Stolen Pieces
by pandorac
Summary: What happens in between the end of the manga and funbari no uta? Romance & Action UPDATED! Ch 10! Hao and Anna? What is the meaning behind Anna's dream? What path awaits her decision?
1. The Beginning

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shaman King -- or dear Hao-Sama .

_This story is in attempt for me to appease my curiosity of the Shaman King ending. I still can't believe SK ended, and finally after much, I decided to write my first fanfiction. I'm a huge Hao fan, so I'm sure you'll notice that, but hopefully since I read so much, I can write a decent enough story with plenty of details. This will have many Hao x Anna, Yoh x Anna moments, and I'm going to try to keep it as believable as possible, with the characters as well as the oucome as I reread the end of SK as well as reread the various translations of Takei's interviews to ensure this. As well as various other unanswered questions left by the manga.  
_

_It's my attempt to bridge the Chapter 285 as well to the Funbari No Uta. So if you haven't read the end of the Shaman King manga, this is not for you. If you would like to read this fanfiction anyways XD go right ahead. Please submit reviews, I am still trying to figure out how this works._

A dark vast platform lay ahead of them. While the architecture around them seemed simple, Manta knew that what he was seeing before him was no ordinary place. Everything around him must have been old, hundreds, thousands of years. When he looked closer, he could make out some drawings in the walls. Were those calculations? Not wanting to think about it anymore, he decided to break the overwhelming silence, as he questioned,

"Anna what is this place?"

"The lost island of Mu" replied Anna indifferent.

"So this is Mu…" Manta knew better not to question further. Instead, he just thought to himself. After all, what was the use of asking? He was going to see and find out sooner or later what exactly this place was. Even though Hao had explained it to them in the baths, Manta didn't really understand. He never really understood anything. This place is so dark and gloomy. Is it really where the throne of the Shaman King lies? Manta thought to himself

Anna, as if in a daze, fixed her gaze up ahead to a small slope.

"Up ahead, that's the easiest path. Let's go." Anna commanded, dragging Anahol with the rope tied around his waist.

"HEYY!" screamed the bruised Anahol. He had already suffered enough. Why did he have to put up with her anyways? She was so commanding, but whatever.

As Manta made his way to the top, he couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling. Are we too late? Suddenly he felt dizzy, maybe it was because so much had happened in the last day, but as he saw the pebbles jumping before him, he knew that wasn't the case.

**-----Zooming Back to the Plant of the Plateau----**

"What… What is that!" screamed Horohoro waking up from his sleep and grabbing onto Chocolove. The ground was beginning to shake and the pottery and things around them were breaking. Horohoro saw everyone wake up slowly from their sleep, Ren staring ahead, while the spirits of Redseb and Faust watched on.

"hmm…" remarked Yoh, looking around.

After being with Yoh so long, everyone pretty much knew Yoh's carefree attitude, and didn't hesitate to follow him out into the fields, where Kalim was still cooking. The group had retired for a small nap so that they might wake up and battle with Kalim after regaining their strength. The plan was to finish the battle and make their way to the other plants. After all, they were all very tired, and Yoh knew that without some rest, they couldn't make it. They had only beaten 4 of the plants; Desert, Valley, Volcano, and Lake, while 6 more still remained, the Plateau, where they were currently residing, as well as the Forest, Cave, Ocean, Glacier, and Universe. The worst members of the Patch Tribe were yet to come. Usually it took the Shaman King 10 hours to get to the throne and be reunited with the G.S… 6 hours had already passed.

"What is that Kalim?" shivered Horohoro, while Kalim, shielded by the fire burning in front of him, smiled.

Yoh narrowed his eyes, as did Anna, at the entrance of Mu.

"It has started, the Shaman King is being reunited with the Great Spirit"

"WHAT! But we had 10 hours! Why so early? You members of the Patch go too far lying to us!" cried Horohoro

"He didn't lie. Remember this is Hao we are dealing with." Lyserg replied as a matter-of-fact.

"What do we do Yoh? We can't stop him now!" asked Chocolove,

"Don't panic, it doesn't help" replied Ren keenly.

Everyone watched as Kalim stood up and made his way to the heavy door. The door instantaneously opened for him and he began to make his way out.

"Where are you going? We still haven't finished our fight" stated Horohoro, narrowing his eyes

"My duty is done.We were to guard the Shaman King until the Great Spirit was reunited with him. After it begins there is no one who can stop it. I myself was surprised at the quickness, the new Shaman King, is strong indeed. Besides, Horohoro, you couldn't have beaten me anyways, despite all I taught you."

"Strong…" whispered Lyserg, looking towards the sky. The sky gleamed over them, it still was astonishing to him how these different plants really looked so real. What was the technology of Mu?

"So what about the other plants?" asked Horohoro

"Well, they will no doubt still be standing guard at their places. Even if you go now, through me, you wouldn't be able to stop them. It wouldn't make a difference."

Yoh looked at everyone silently, and as quickly as they had come, they ran past Kalim.

Redseb made sure to take the S.O.F with him as he went. What they were going to do with the spirit was far beyond him. Opacho snored silently in Chocolove's arms as they made their way up, why did Hao gift him with such a power?

As Horohoro turned, he saw a silent smile play upon his lips. Up ahead everyone was running towards the a new door. Nestled high upon slope in a corner. More over boding than the ones before it. The Plant of the Forest?

Meanwhile, Anna hurried up the slope, grabbing Manta in one arm, and dragging Anahol on the rocks behind her. Something was bothering her. What was it? Something familiar…

**-----In Hell----**

"We finally obtained the spirits." whispered Sati, standing on the arms of the S.O.E.


	2. The Plan

_I'm surprised that I got so many reviews on the first chapter. Esp. since I wrote the first chapter yesterday. After some thinking over, I already decided on the second chapter, so here it goes…I've already decided on how to end this fanfiction lol. Aren't I weird? But building up to it, is what I've got to decide how to play out... It took me 1 hour to figure out how to check reviews. This is quite complicated lol._

_Thank you Mista! For all the help and suggestions! I can't think without 'em, you are a co-writer for this whole thing. He's the best ever! hugs to death we plan things out lol (already decided everything with him). 1,000 words again…_

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_Tap Tap Tap Tap_ _Tap Tap Tap Tap_ …

The five warriors along with their friends ran ahead, not bothering to look behind them. The Island of Mu was looking more and more familiar to them now, it seemed as if every corridor was the same as the one before it and no matter which way they turned everything was a vast chasm. It amazed Lyserg how different the outside of Mu looked from the inside of the plants. Even after seeing five of the plants, the mystery of Mu surrounded him. Had the Patch really taken shamans here every 500 years? Who was the last Shaman King?

_Tap Tap tap ta-p t-a-p, t----a---p…_

"What?" spoke Horohoro, looking behind him. Yoh had suddenly stopped running and stood staring up. Come on Yoh! This is not the time to look around at the scenery thought Horohoro.

"What do you think you are doing" Ren said, angrily turning to look at Yoh. "This is not the time to relax."

"I was thinking…if we keep going on like this, there is no way we can defeat Hao in time. It's impossible to even try." whispered Yoh, looking towards the group with serious eyes. He was not joking.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOH!" yelled Lyserg loosing his temper, as Opacho arose from his sleep. There was too much at stake here, how could Yoh give up so easily? Was this the same Yoh who encouraged others to train hard and never back down?

"Even though we got off fighting with Kalim, we still have to defeat five more plants, and with less than four hours to go. That is, if Hao actually takes 4 hours to complete recombining with the Great Spirit. It's impossible this way. Hao is much stronger than us as well. The longer we take to get to him, the more powerful he will become." answered Yoh, naturally.

Everyone became silent. It was true. Had they come all this way for nothing?

"…So what do you want us to do? Do you have a plan of some sort, or do we wait around until Hao fully gains control of the Great Spirit to decide?" Ren countered sarcastically.

"Ren's right. We can't just sit around and wait for the crazy guy to destroy people." Chocolove replied.

Finally calming down, and regaining themselves, the group observed Yoh. He was serious. They walked towards him and sat down on a group of rocks surrounding the pathway. Faust and RedSeb decided to sit where they had stopped, while Ryu walked halfway back, and sat down lazily on the ground. Behind the pathway was a deep canyon with a non-existing base. The place was, as Manta described it, unconditionally gloomy. Opacho jumped out of Chocolove's arms, and walked silently towards the side, sitting on the floor.

"Opacho wants to see Hao-Sama"

"We all need to find Hao. I'm not giving up, Yoh, no matter what you say. I'm not letting anymore casualties occur." Lyserg demanded, kicking a small pebble into the gaping abyss. The sound of the rock hit the side of the cliff, but where it ended, no one could hear.

Yoh, who was looking downwards, lifted his head up, and stared at the crew. With eyes glistening, ghastly familiar to a similar well-known expression made by a similar Asakura, he smiled.

"Who said we were giving up?"

**----In the ocean----**

"Mikihasa! Where are you going! Are you crazy!" yelled Jun, as Mikihasa dodged a shark, going through a patch of seaweed. Even though Jun knew that Hao and Yoh both had not spent time with their father, it amazed her how his attitude was prevalent in both of their personalities. Genes are definitely strong smirked Jun, thinking of her brother and father.

Mikihasa suddenly dived the submarine, causing Jun to shriek, until he could see the island of Mu. Sadly, he was never very good with driving or steering any sort of moving vehicle, and he broke off a piece of the front as he 'parked' the submarine. Opening the door, he could feel three additional presences on the island. The Asakura's had without doubt chosen an excellent fiancé for his son. He had taken a great risk coming here. Hopefully his son and friends had not been too reckless. He didn't need to worry about Anna.

**----A couple paces away from the Plant of the Forest----**

"ARE YOU CRAZY! That's suicide! Lyserg is the strongest one of us all Yoh! And you know that" yelled the now agitated Ren, arms akimbo, at Yoh. He had heard plenty of nonsensical things from Yoh, and this, by far, was the worst.

"It is our only chance."

"Look. Even if we each split up the plants, taking each plant on by ourselves, why would we make Lyserg take the forest! He has the most furyoku, and moreover, as we go from plant to plant, the Patch get stronger!"

"… Yoh's right." Everyone turned to the culprit of these unforgivable words. Lyserg sat, his green hair shielding his eyes. The ground was so gray. What was that on the floor? A eye?

"HOROHORO DO YOU HEAR THEM! THEY ARE ALL CRAZY! LIKE A PAIR OF DUCKLINGS!" yelled Chocolove. No one noticed his weird comparison. The atmosphere was too tense. RedSeb looked around clueless; he couldn't understand what was going on or how he could help. He was dead after all. Ryu looked about sadly.

"Think for a moment. If the weak one went first to the next plant, that person would obviously lose" everyone looked towards Ryu silently.

"HEYYY!" screamed Ryu, agitated. Opacho smiled. He was so amused by these shamans.

"But, if we send the strongest first, the rest of us would die as we get to the more powerful Patch." replied Horohoro, looking at Chocolove. Man, this thing is getting complicated by the second he thought.

"No. Yoh's right." Ren suddenly said.

"WHAT! Are Chocolove and I the only ones who don't understand!" yelled Horo Horo, clinging to Chocolove.

"Look." Began Lyserg. "Let's say we all go from the strongest to the weakest, taking the opposite Plant. If I have more Furyoku, then I have more chance of defeating the Patch, and faster. I will also waste Furyoku this way, but our Furyoku becomes stronger on the verge of death anyways. Faust's spirit can always revive if I die. Yoh plans to integrate with Faust and take on this role."

"Yes, let me handle it, I won't fight, I'm the weakest anyways. Right now we need to get Hao before he gains too much power and obtains the Great Spirit. If that happens, it will be near impossible to defeat him."

"**Amazing**."

"Who?" Everyone turned their attention to the mysterious shadow emerging from the background.

A smile played upon the face of the mysterious being

"I have taught you well…"

"**YOH**"


	3. UNIVERSE

_Hey everyone! Tis' me! Thanks for all the reviews, review some more if you can . I have decided on the third and forth chapter, I don't know if it will go onto the 5th… _

_To answer a previous question, akimbo means like the position when your elbows are bent and your hands are on your hips. You know! Like when you are mad you bend your elbows and put them on your hips. Anna is seen doing it all the time when she tortures Yoh lol… But that's what that means . So I wrote about 1,700 words this time, to make it a bit longer chapter. Mista once again thanks for your wonderful suggestions!_

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_Huff huff huff… _

"Anna wait up!" Manta rang out, panting after a speed-walking Anna. For the last hour she seemed to be going at lightning speed to him. To make matters worse, Manta was scared of heights, and it seemed they had been climbing an array of rocks and cliffs. Not to mention he had reasonably small legs. Anahol, like Anna, ended up power-walking as well. Either that, or Anna, still controlling the rope around his waist, would simply drag him there.

_Crack _

"Wait up Anna…"

Suddenly, the floor gave away in front of him. Manta kicked a pebble and could not hear the sound below. Deep.

"Anna!" as if hit by lightning, Anna snapped her head to the side.

"What are you doing there?"

"Anna I have been yelling for you for 15 minutes straight! Why are you ignoring me?"

"Oh. Sorry" Anna pulled off her bandana and threw it across to Manta. The gap wasn't big, so Manta grabbed onto it. The bandana however, barely made it.

Sorry? Anna? Manta knew something was wrong. Since they had come into Mu, Anna was keeping to herself, barely saying anything. As they got farther into the labyrinth it seemed to be getting worse. Was she thinking about something? Did Anna have a plan? What if Yoh and the others had died, or weren't there when they reached Hao? And why in the world were there no Patch on the path? Shouldn't they be guarding the place?

"Anna are you okay?" Manta asked simply.

No reply.

"Anna?"

No reply.

"Anna? ANNA!" Again, Anna suddenly took notice as if coming back from another world. She was staring up ahead at the slope in front of them. This time it was relatively steep and Manta couldn't see above it. He figured it must drop down suddenly.

"What? Hurry up will you!" Anna jerked the bandana across the ledge, sending Manta flying towards her. Luckily Manta landed in a pile of… rocks. Rubbing his bottom, Manta stood up, looking forward. Anna grabbed his hand and now ran towards the top. Manta could see that there was definitely something bothering her. Was her grip always this weak? Even though they had only been here for half an hour, it felt like days.

The pathway was going a bit downwards now, easier than climbing up. Before Manta could return his attention to Anna, suddenly…

BAAM

It hit him like a rock. Something fell on his head, from the… the sky? Manta looked upwards, It couldn't have possible come from up there could it? Manta thought. But then again, I've learned nothing is impossible… When he faced forward again, he noticed Anna looking at him, wide-eyed. What was it? Manta felt his head, feeling something hard drop on him. It was relatively small, however, and as he brought it down and looked at it, he couldn't believe his eyes…

"Yoh's bracelet" Anahol burst in. Anna suddenly grabbed it from his hands, bringing it close to her chest.

"Yoh…"

It was the one he always wore. The one Matamune gave him. Why would it be here and where did it come from? Manta looked at Anna, her eyes shielded by her hair. Was she okay? Suddenly he saw the rare moment…

_Plop plop_

"Anna…" he uttered. She was crying. Anna dropped to her knees, holding the bracelet in her arms.

"Yoh… Please be safe…" she uttered. Manta and Anahol looked upon her with horror. The strong Anna, scared for Yoh? Wasn't she always the one to trust and believe in him? And here she was, breaking down. Not only breaking down, but breaking down in FRONT of them. Manta worried a bit, and telling by Anahol's look, he was as well. Was this what was bothering her all this time?

Had something happened to Yoh?

_Crack crack crack_

Manta saw the earth beneath them begin to crack, as the land began to rumble again as before. Anna sat clutching the bracelet, and before they could stop it, they fell into the unknown.

"AHHHHHH" Manta and Anahol screamed in horror, hugging each other as they ushered towards their sure death.

_Pant pant pant pant. _

_Pant pant pant pant. _

Manta got up, rubbing dust off his back. pant

"I'm… I'm alive?" he muttered. Where was he? As he looked around he knew he was still in Mu, but this time the pathway was a bit different. It was lit by torches and he could see a… was that a…

a carpet?

"Whe… Where are we?" Anahol yelled. The sight around them was amazing. The ground was not pure cliffs and edges, like the rest of Mu. Red carpet covered the ground, and as Manta looked closer he could see it wasn't purely red but consisted of a wide variety of intricate designs. It reminded him of the hieroglyphics he had seen in Egyptian stories. Now that he thought of it, he had seen pieces of these drawings as well as calculations throughout all of Mu. This carpet however, put it all together

"Yoh…" Anna kept muttering. Anahol and Manta were scared. Although no tears escaped her eyes, Anna kept muttering 'Yoh' over and over.

"Is she… okay?" Anahol questioned Manta, looking down to him.

"I don't know… Anna? Anna are you okay?"

"This doesn't look good…"

"Anna, stand up. We have to go. Yoh is okay, I'm sure about it."

Anna raised her head, at the mention of Yoh's name.

"Anna? He's okay." Manta stated as a fact.

"I… I haven't been able to feel his spirit for the last hour. I was able to feel it before. So he's definitely not OKAY!" Anna screamed.

Taken off guard, Manta and Anahol stepped backwards. Anna was worried for Yoh, that was for sure, but wasn't she always the one who made him go forward no matter what? Even if something happened to Yoh, they HAD to try to get to Hao!

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ANNA!" Manta yelled, not knowing what else to do. Anahol jumped in surprise.

Anna's eyes widened, but it was evident that her indecision was still there.

"Suddenly you seem so worried about Yoh, but you and I have both just come to Mu. Who knows if this place blocks of spirit detection or whatever, and Yoh might just been hiding his Foryoku. We don't know for certain anymore. All we can do is keep going forward. We have to at least TRY to stop Hao!"

Anna looked at him strangely. Manta held his breath, while Anahol didn't know what to think anymore.

"WELL! What are we standing around here for, lets go IDIOTS!" Anna stood up and marched her way forward. phew thought Manta, he was getting really scared for a moment. Anna was definitely unpredictable.

"Hmm…"

"What Anna?"

"Before we go, lets sit down for a bit and think things through. This place is a bit weird." Anna sat down a rock on the side. This place was really weird. The red carpet covered the floor, but surrounding it were just plain rocks and other things.

Anna, Anahol and Manta sat down.

"Anna…"

"Ya?" Anna answered, looking at Anahol

"Can you…" Anahol stammered "Can you take off these ropes! PLEASE!" cried Anahol comically.

"Hmph."

Anna suddenly pulled out a small knife, that was hidden in her Bandana and cut the ropes

"Ahh a knife… A KNIFE! Anna you threw me that bandana to grab hold of. What if I had cut myself by grabbing it!"

"So. What's your point?" Manta dropped to the ground in disbelief. She was certainly back to her ice cold self.

"Where are we anyways?"

Oh so she just noticed thought Manta.

"I don't know… I think we are still in Mu."

"Of course we are in Mu, but how did we get here?"

"We fell down from the cliff."

"That's what I thought, but if we did, this place is still hard as rock, we should have been dead."

"Obviously we are alive, so let's just thank our lucky stars" Anahol cut in.

Anna started observing more about the place, lost in deep thought, as was Manta and Anahol. Although she didn't really care for the designs in the carpet, there was something definitely different about this part of Mu. The pathway seemed less rough, and it was relatively straight, although steep. Maybe they had stumbled upon some special part of Mu. Anna got up, brushing off her black dress.

"Let's go."

The three walked up the pathway, looking around for a good two hours, until Anahol suddenly stopped.

"Wha… What is that?" he questioned, pointing to a big door on the top of a high cliff. There were some small cliffs leading there. But they couldn't have been larger than mere stepping stones.

"U... UNIVERSE" Manta read the sign above the door. Anna narrowed her eyes and jumped upon the first small cliff. She sent a small flat rock off the cliff, and like usual, a sound couldn't be heard.

"A… Anna! Are you crazy? We _could never_ make it!" Manta screamed after her, but before he knew it, she was on the fourth standing.

"Will you just come on, you wimp." Anna mocked him, arms akimbo as usual.

Manta shrugged his shoulders and followed her. He knew if he didn't she would just leave him behind. Anahol started in front and Manta followed. They both avoided looking down, and before they knew it, they were both directly in front of the door and beside Anna, who had reached there sometime before.

"Hey, Anna this is a big door, we can't possibly push it."

"Yap." Anna who was already beside the door and pushing it. She stepped backwards and began to think.

"I guess we'll just break it down" she resolved.

"It doesn't look too hard." Anahol smiled, obviously ready to form his oversoul.

Before they could begin though…

_Squeek squeek_

A little white... thing peeked from behind the door.

"WHAT THE F IS THAT!" Manta screamed, jumping backwards.

Anna stepped forward, seemly prepared for battle.

"My name is Rutherfor."

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_Im done :D Woot. Review -- just cause I like reading comments lol._


	4. Yoh

_Hey everyone, I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow, so I wanted to finish this chapter before I did that. What does OOC mean btw? I have been reading some fan fiction lately and I just don't know what that stands for D?_

_Thank you guys for the wonderful comments. How do I reply to comments? Anyways . Thank you Mista for the ideas for Rutherfor's oversoul :D I was stuck on that, and now that I have figured it out I can write this chapter ! Review guys ._

_This chapter is in pure dedication to Mista._

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"Anna… What is that thing?" Manta questioned, looking at Rutherfor.

Rutherfor opened the door, glancing at Anna. He stood as tall as Manta, with a white robe draped around his small shoulders. Each eye was a vast black pool, blanketing his emotions. Thus, Anna could not make a first impression of him by his appearance, which made him a dangerous foe… or friend… One thing she knew for certain: he was not of this world.

"Who are you and why do you look like that?" Anna asked bluntly. Manta was too used to Anna's way of asking things so wasn't surprised at her question, however, Anahol was in utter dismay.

"Should I introduce myself again? My name is Rutherfor, and where I come from does not concern you. Turn back now or face the consequences. I do not know how you managed to take the Shaman King's path, but I cannot let you get any further." Rutherfor stated.

"Take that exit to the right" he pointed. "And leave before I am forced to kill you."

Anna glared at him, arms crossing, and was obviously not going to attempt moving herself. Rutherfor regarded her with some curiosity, she was foolish, but something about her caught his attention.

"W… Wait a minute… the Shaman King's Path.?" Anahol interrupted. Rutherfor suddenly noticed Anahol for the first time, and knew for certain he was just a tag-along. He decided to answer his stupidity. Perhaps that would wave them away. Besides, it was a bit boring to just attack them without any explanation at all.

"You are really clueless after all. The Shaman King's path is a secret passage to the King's throne. The island of Mu is designed in a way that in order for an individual to get to the throne, they would have to go through a series of pathways and passages." Rutherfor began explaining, pointing to the floor beneath him, and lo and behold a huge map of Mu appeared, lighted by headlights. It seemed like a maze, and Anahol immediately saw the huge square like structures. They must be the plants.

Rutherfor pointed his finger in one of the regions, which suddenly highlighted itself and enlarged. As Anna looked closer, her face turned blank, it was a birds eye view of Yoh's group. And Yoh… Yoh was…

Rutherfor smirked at Anna and continued.

"Usually, if anyone wants to get here, as your dying friends are doing now, they would have to pass through ten different plants and each of these areas are subsequently controlled by a single member of the PATCH. The Shaman King of course, would face no objection from the PATCH, but this route becomes a huge inconvenience. The people of Mu, as advanced civilization as they were realized this and built an underground passage to the throne."

He was lying on the floor.

_Yoh_ Anna thought.

"When the Shaman King is guided to Mu for the first time, he is asked if he would like to take the underground passage or the long route through the plants."

_There is blood streaming from his head_

"Most Shaman King actually choose to go through the long way, which usually takes 10 hours, since many like to see the plants, their function, and understand the people of Mu. Our new king however, much stronger than all the previous ones, decided to take the underground passage."

_Yoh…_

"Which is why he reached the throne in a mere five hours instead of ten…" Rutherfor explained, as-a-matter-of-fact, snapping his fingers, and glaring at Anna who had not interrupted but kept staring at the birds eye view of the map.

Instantly, the map disappeared, and Manta only sat in awe… Mu defied every law of science and physics… either that or it was far advanced in technology than any of the world existing now.

"Correct. Mu was far more advanced, the technology you humans have right now is pure destruction without a purpose." Rutherfor answered. Manta put a step backwards, taken aback by Rutherfor's ability to read thoughts. (A/N: I forgot what this ability is called in Japanese, R—something, anyone remember? I need to find it out before I write the next chapter.)

_So he also has the ability to read thoughts _Manta thought, frightened by how he could never be too careful of what he was thinking.

"ZENKI! KOUKI!" Anna yelled suddenly, ruining the pause of silence, materializing the oversouls she took captured from Hao. Rutherfor looked up, surprised by her sudden impulse, and noticed for the first time, that he could not read her thoughts.

"-Fufufu- and I thought that nothing could ever surprise me. You have courage girl, but I can see through your little escapade. Do you really think you can defeat me? But, I must admit, you had surprised me there… I didn't know you could read minds as well." Rutherfor smiled, suddenly taking out a small ball sketched like a miniature earth.

"I can't read minds. I don't have time to chat with you. Tell me how to get to YOH!" Anna yelled, attacking with Zenki and Kouki. The oversouls charged at Rutherfor, and binded his arms.

"Heh." Anna grinned, "You aren't nearly as strong as you seem are you"

"Strong?" suddenly, Rutherfor disappeared, he reappeared behind Anna and the earth ball in his hand suddenly enlarged into the size of a bowling ball, which he aimed at her. Anna's look of pure surprise, however, didn't stop her from reflecting the attack and the ball flew in Manta's direction. As quickly as it had enlarged, the ball shrank to the size of a marble and hit the wall, bouncing back into Rutherfor's hands.

"So. You aren't all talk I see. I don't have to play catch with you. But, you seem to underestimate me." Rutherfor answered, flying backwards. "You see… what did you call her? Anna?" Rutherfor landed on the floor. "This oversoul of mine you see. is only visitor mode, let me show you destruction…"

Even Anna stared in awe at what appeared in front of her. Black smoke like structures appeared surrounded around Rutherfor, and what stood before them now was a giant Rutherfor, taller, eyes seemingly smaller on his large lanky body. His cape enwrapped his arms and legs, making him seem like a fajita with a head. How could he attack with his limbs inside? However, as Anna looked closer, she noticed that his arms weren't inside the cape at all, but they were there, silently drifting on the side, in… in…

"Pieces…" Manta uttered.

"DARK MATTER ENTRAPMENT" Rutherfor yelled, and as he did, black particles floated to all parts of the room, and if Mu had frightened Manta before, this place made him want to run for cover. Manta hid behind a shivering Anahol. The 'matter' now surrounded everywhere, and Manta could feel himself even breathing it in.

"I… I can't see anything Anna!" Manta yelled. "ANNA!"

"A… Anna.." muttered an almost broken down Anahol.

"Shut up will you. I'm trying to concentrate." Suddenly Zenki and Kouki appeared next to them, and since they always seemed to be glowing, Manta and Anahol could see at least a little bit of something for some period as their eyes tried to adjust to the darkness in vain. Anna stepped in front of them, placing her finger on their mouths, obviously signaling them to be quiet. Manta and Anahol instantly obeyed. What is going on

_So you think you can find me by simply listening?_ Anna turned around, she could see nothing.

"Come out you coward!" Anna yelled.

"Coward? Don't be foolish." Rutherfor replied, and suddenly Manta could make out a group of the black particles gathering. Behind them he saw the pieces of Rutherfor's hands combining, aiming a solid like ball of the matter, towards Anna. Anna looked at it, face as cold and emotionless as always.

"GRAVITY PULL" Rutherfor whispered, and as he did, Anna suddenly began floating in the air, and with her, went Zenki and Kouki who Manta could barely make out the tiny luminescence far above their heads. He could hear the turning of the planets in the planetarium it was so quiet. Should he speak? Anna told him to stay quiet. Besides, what use would it be to yell. But he saw and heard what happened clearly.

"AHH!" Anna was yelling, and suddenly Manta could see what had happened. Her leg… It was trapped in the ball. Anahol had materialized his oversoul next to Manta, dimly light them and giving them a better view of the place.

"Anna… her… her leg…" Manta gasped. The leg was in an akward position bending the wrong way.

"He sucked her in with that thing." Anahol said calmly.

"Sucked her…?"

"He created a force, I don't know what it was, that first pulled her off the ground and then dragged her into there. Anna struggled obviously. And that's what happened."

"arg…" Anna sweated, paining with every movement. Her leg was obviously broken, but she couldn't give up now, the ball was sucking her in… it reminded of her a kitchen sink drain. No. It was something more. It was more like a…

_black hole_ she heard it quickly. It couldn't be, his lips hadn't moved. He was talking to her, without speaking? Or opening his mouth? _You are quite observant, this should be rather fun…_

"ZENKI!" and suddenly Zenki attacked with Kouki towards Rutherfor, and Rutherfor slightly opened his arm and the ball disappeared as Anna fell. THUD. Manta had to do something. What could he do? He began to step forward to help her, but she glared.

_Why are you glaring at me Anna? _Manta thought.

"Let's go." Anahol said

"GO! Are you crazy! We have to save her!"

"You don't get it do you. She's distracting him, we have to find the throne." Manta looked back to Anna to confirm and she was telling him something, even with those emotionless eyes he could see it. Okay. He should go.

Anahol and Manta ran, but in either which way he could see black matter.

"Nice try. This matter not only blocks your vision but it also creates illusions, even if you find a door, it might just be leading you to a small cliff. And as weak as your hearts are, if you strongly believe that you are falling to your end, your brain itself telling of your death, you will die." The two gasped at Rutherfor's words, as he appeared before them.

THUMP THUMP THUMP. Anahol and Manta's hearts beat fast.

"DON'T TALK NONSENSE! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT WEAK HEARTS!" Rutherfor suddenly flew to the end of planet. The one who spoke the words stepped forward, Anna, the side strap of her dress torn, tied roughly to her leg, which was facing in the right direction again. Her pale face, as determined as ever.

"Still alive? You surprise me, especially for a young one as you, your potential is great, but even I am left wondering who you really are. Your leg…" Rutherfor faced Anna. "You twisted it back into place and tied it up? Truly extrodinary. No shaman has ever survived my Gravity Pull." He smiled, looking down, and as fast as Manta blinked, returned to his smaller cute self.

"Let me amuse you."

"**BIG BANG!"**

Manta and Anahol both flew to the side, Manta could see Anahol was protecting him. But Anna. He couldn't hear anything. Everything was dead silent.

"What was…" Manta gasped, noticing he himself couldn't hear himself speaking. Had he gone deaf? This situation sounded familiar, the bright blinding light, his hazy vision and his inability to hear even his own voice. It was like the was victims who had been in close proximity to a bomb drop.

_So if it was like a bomb… Then Anna, she was right in front of the attack._ Manta turned, and saw her. It brought tears to his eyes. Anahol stood and fell to his knees.

There was Anna, lying on the floor. Her hair lay in dismay around her face, legs and arms both severely burned. Her dress, usually going till her knees, left her with a small mini skirt and top, even the middle burnt off. The straps lay as mere scraps on her shoulders. Manta ran to her.

"Anna…" he muttered. Still unable to hear himself… "Anna!" he yelled, in attempt to hear himself. She fluttered her eyes, staring at him. A tear finally drifted down her right eye, struggling to escape. Not once had she cried, through this fight, not with her leg, not ever, until now.

She muttered a word Manta could not hear, and closed her eyes.

_She's dead. _Manta turned toward Rutherfor, floating in the air, the dark matter disappearing leaving the room as a beautiful planetarium as it was when they entered. _And you.._

_You'll be next._

Manta stood, as Anahol stood, across the room, and Manta, mumbled to himself, as he replied to Anna's last word, the promise he couldn't fulfill.

"I'm sorry Anna. I can't… I can't…save him…"

"_Yoh_" she had whispered, her hand which was on her chest, falling to the side, and out of her fingers it had fallen. The bracelet.

-----------------------------------ON THE PATH-----------------------------------

"YOH! YOH! Get up Yoh!" Horohoro yelled, screaming to the quiet body lying behind him…

"It's no use Horohoro" Ren said, blocking his face, walking towards the culprit who had attacked him.

"Now it's us against you…" Ren began

"Silva."


	5. The Fight Against Silva

_ Hey everyone! Sorry for the late post and all… Hmm there are a couple of people reading this fanfic, so I need to post something more often, but due to my trip as well as my internet connection for 3 weeks almost has been really crappy, I haven't had the time…_

_ Han :D Thank you so much for the name of Hao's mind reading abilities… It's in my inbox somewhere, so I'll go ahead and make sure to use it when I get to him Nods but until then… we'll keep going with this. I want to really make everything last a long time, but it seems to be approaching faster than I anticipated. But either way… Here is the next chapter… Thank you once again Mista for all the remarks and stuff :D I hope I can remember everything… And finally I'll get _HER_ to come…_

_ Ahh thanks so much for telling what OOC is Oo … I hope I don't make any of the characters OOC… Tell me if I am guys -- -- tries really hard not to do that… Or if anything doesn't make sense. I usually think the chapters through a lot, looking and referencing things so not to contradict. Hopefully Ill write the other chapters quickly._

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1 Hour Before

He stood before them, seemingly stronger than ever, and obviously still brainwashed as they had seen him last. Except, this time, he seemed much more serious, so much more that he actually sent shivers down Ren's spine…

"Silva…" Yoh stepped forward, holding his sword before him, already integrated with Amidamaru. _This looks bad Amidamaru._

'Yoh-dono, it seems like those Patch put more influence on him. I have a bad feeling about this, be careful and alert.' Amidamaru stated, obviously a bit scared for Yoh himself. Something in his mind was telling him to stop, to get away, and the slit eyes of Silva did not confirm otherwise.

"Really, you don't learn do you? Even with all that I taught you Yoh, you were always lacking when knowing when to give up." Silva mocked, smiling at the rest of the gang.

"Silva." Yoh mumbled, his head downwards. Pulling his head up, Yoh revealed dark gloomy eyes, very common to his tempered mood, yelling "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU! Don't let them influence you! You can fight it!"

"fufufu --- you think you know everything don't you? Maybe you shouldn't let your own worthless dreams cloud your judgment. Either way, I'm ordered to kill you. This time you won't escape."

Yoh ran toward Silva, his sword held up high, wanting to take care of this once and for all. _After all, we can always revive him later_, Yoh thought, justifying his fight with his mentor.

"ARRRR" Yoh was instantly thrown towards the cliff to the right hand side, landing on a ledge, head down. When did Silva swing and knock him? _He's fast_.

"Yoh!" yelled Horohoro, stepping forward to run towards him. A hand stopped him in the middle of his path.

"Don't. The moment you run towards him, he will take that instant to attack you. Think straight Horohoro, he isn't the same man he was before. This time, we need to get serious. We have to kill him." Ren removed his hand from in front of Horohoro's chest.

"Yoh, get up, you can't go easy on him this time. He isn't the Silva you know, no matter what you say." Ren spoke to Yoh, all the while keeping his eyes in front, watching Silva's every movement.

"I know that" Yoh answered, getting up slowly as pain soared throughout his entire body. He knew what he had to do, but even then, something was telling Yoh there was still a chance. Deep down inside must reside the Silva he knew. There must be some way? But if there wasn't… If there wasn't… Yoh jumped off the ledge and onto the pathway with the rest of the gang.

"Yoh, maybe we should take care of this. You are already weak and tired." Lyserg whispered to Yoh, now standing side by side with him.

"No. This is my fight. Ren, Horohoro, step back. Lyserg, make sure you protect the others if an attack is deflected in another direction." Yoh commanded, pushing Horohoro and Ren stumbling backwards as he faced Silva head on.

"Heh. So be it." Silva smiled.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you."

"That won't be necessary, Silva" Yoh smiled, goofy, as always.

"Sometimes you are too over confident. You have more in common with Hao than you think Yoh. Of course, let's see if your confidence has something to back it up." Silva taunted, now with his oversoul. Wings surrounded Silva's back as shells appeared at his knees and other important places, his most amazing oversoul that he had done just a while back (A/N Chapter 267 :P) with his last fight with the five warriors.

"SILVER HORN!" Silva attacked Yoh straight on, but Yoh turned to his side, going above him.

"MuMuMyouYakuMu" Yoh slashed with a backhand, aiming perfectly towards Silva's back. Silva, unable to dodge it perfectly, took the hit on his wings, making him fall downwards temporarily until he regenerated them, and flew above Yoh's head. Diving towards Yoh, he brought his famous, yet old, Totem cannon, the same one he had used on Yoh with his last long fight before the one at Mu, when he had obtained the Oracle Bell.

"BOOM" the beam shot out.

"Lyserg!" At his cue, Lyserg quickly pushed the gawking Horohoro and Ren out of the way. Yoh, already with warning of this attack due to his encounter with it a long time before, barely made it in time to dodge it, but not properly, as it managed to blast through a side of his leg. Clutching it, Yoh sank to the floor.

The dead Faust ran towards Yoh, only to turn paler at the sight of his bone sticking out of his ankle.

"Fix it…" Yoh clenched his teeth, looking cautiously at the overhead Silva, who seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Hold on. Ren!" Faust screamed for the proud boy's help, who was currently mumbling to Lyserg that he could take care of himself and didn't need warning. Ren, however, hearing Faust's warning, ran towards Yoh.

"Here. Push over here" the dead doctor instructed, pointing a point on Yoh's leg.

"Okay." Ren pushed hard, as Yoh gritted his teeth upon a small portion of the protruding bone.

_Pop_

Silva, watching all this as a sporting event, smiled, and descended.

"Come on Yoh. Is that all you have? I thought you wanted to be Shaman King? We just started and you already broke a bone!" Yoh smiled at Silva's insults, sweat flowing down his forehead, and got up to his feet, limping a little due to the previously injured ankle. Tearing off a piece of his sleeve, he tied the leg firmly, stopping the blood flow, and keeping the bone in place.

"I do want to be Shaman King. ARRRR!" Yoh dashed towards Silva and swung firmly. Silva, surprised at his quickly returning strength, was forced backwards. _What is this? _One Step… Two Steps… Silva was slowly being cornered against a wall in the right hand corner of a cliff. They parried back and forth for a good 20 minutes, but it seemed to be getting nowhere.

_He should be weaker after that wound… but his swings are much stronger. _ Silva's feet were only a few inches away from the wall. Silva realized that Yoh's swordplay was much better than his. _I better do something, and quickly, because I can't escape once I'm cornered._

_Better finish this once and for all._

"WINGED BLADE"

_What! _Yoh stared in awe at Silva who had suddenly escaped from his future predicament and now dived towards the air above him. Silva was always full of surprises.

As Yoh stood below, Silva suddenly turned his oversoul wings inward and with the turtle shield in front of his head, he combined the other remaining animals similarly as he did with the totem pole, but this time, they turned blade-like sword, light, and seemingly flimsy.

"YOH-DONO! WATCH OUT!" Amidamaru yelled, realizing too late, as no sooner had the warning left his mouth, that Silva dived down so quickly even Amidamaru could not see his movement.

_THUMP_

"Yoh-Dono!"

"Ah. I'm alright." Yoh said. Even without Amidamaru's warning Yoh had seen the attack, and a mere half second before the dive, he had shifted quickly to the right, avoiding further damaged.

"You are better than I imagined Yoh." Silva said, licking his sword.

"And you always have something new up your sleeve"

"If you know what is good for you, you should just leave Yoh. Do you really want to die for a senseless ambition?"

"The Silva I know would never say such a thing. He had ambitions. But you seem like an empty corpse."

"YAHHH! Like Faust!" Chocolove jumped in. Faust glared at Horohoro and he shrank back. Chocolove, true to his character, had only wanted to lighten the mood, and he thought their discussion was just going to make Yoh more hopeful. There was nothing Yoh could do about Silva, he should realize that the Patch had already significantly brain-washed him, as Chocolove could definitely see. Although Yoh might have been right last time, this was not the case now.

"Do you think Yoh can do it with that leg? What happened to his plan about the strongest fighting first?" Lyserg questioned, seeing Silva and Yoh fighting vehemently.

"I think we should trust Yoh. But I am worried about him too." Ryu answered, now a bit more talkative.

"If only he had a weakness… I don't understand how he's holding up against Yoh. Yoh seems to be wasting much more Foryoku while Silva is only using a little bit. Furthermore, Yoh is loosing it fast, and seems to be getting tired." Horohoro pointed towards Yoh, who was, profusely sweating and tiring out. The light in his oversoul was beginning to flicker once every five minutes. The group returned to watch him in concern.

"I miss Hao-sama…" Opacho, who was taking a nap beside Chocolove, said, rubbing his eyes a while later, breaking the silence surrounding the group. "If Hao-Sama was here, he would have already finished him. Even with his weakness, Yoh can't finish him…"

"Weakness?" everyone asked in unison. But Opacho was getting tired again, and turned looking upon the background fight with an oncoming yawn. Rubbing his eyes some more, he attempted to explain.

"The Patch keeps thinking of his back. Opacho can hear him thinking 'I must not turn around or let him corner me into the wall.' That is what Opacho hears. But Opacho is awake now, and is tired of waiting. He will help you."

"AH I SEE! Yoh had hit him a couple times in the last fight as well, and I mean, with those wings weighing him down too, the wound must be getting worse!" Horohoro confirmed for himself.

"YOH!" Chocolove screamed, and the young fighter, turning around slightly, jumped a good distance away from Silva, looking towards Chocolove.

"HIS BACK! GET HIS BACK! IT'S HIS WEAKNESS." Yoh, surprised at the sudden help, looked at Silva, whose expressions, whether fear, anger, or pride, were all hidden under a facial mask. Yoh however, thought to try out the tactic.

As quickly as Silva heard the scream, Yoh rushed towards him and Silva, seeking to defend it, didn't expect what Yoh did next. Using his protected arm as a boost, Yoh jumped on his arm, swung himself over Silva's head, and slashed his back.

"AHHHH!" Silva fell forward, clutching his back, and rolled over to see Yoh smiling down on him.

"Silva. It's enough. I have found out your weakness. Admit defeat." Squinting, Silva looked at Yoh.

"Admit defeat?" he whispered.

"Huh?" Suddenly, Silva jumped to his feet in a matter of seconds and recreating the small sword before, he stabbed Yoh in the side of the head.

Silence. Blood spurted towards the wall, and Yoh lay on the floor profusely bleeding.

Redseb and Faust, sitting upon a rock, wore looks of shock on their faces. Chocolove, and the four warriors stood, uttering not a word, while Opacho looked on as nothing special had happened. Five minutes passed.

"YOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryu screamed, eyes wide with confusion, confirming what the on lookers were denying.

"Heh." Silva smirked, standing over Yoh's body. And kicked it aside towards the gaping abyss, but before he could, Ryu blocked him with his small oversoul.

"You? You shouldn't even be here" Silva smiled, looking at Ryu with pity. "I'm surprised you haven't been finished off yet."

"ARRR!" Ryu ran towards Silva, who simply smiled, already planning to slash through him as his oversoul wasn't nearly as strong as his own.

CLASH!

Ren stopped Silva's attack in mid air with his ancient weapon. Silva dashed backwards, a couple yards away from where Yoh lay. Horohoro, who was only a few moments away of doing what Ren had done, looked towards Yoh.

"His soul is still there. We need to find someone to revive him quickly." Ren gestured towards Horohoro.

"Save him? But who!"

"Don't play with me boy, I'll finish him once and for all. And you can't revive a dismembered body." Silva laughed, flying towards Yoh, only to be blocked by Horohoro.

"Hah! Just try" Horohoro smiled.

"Let me handle him Horohoro. Protect him. I'll hold him off for a while. Lyserg! Oversoul with Faust."

"Oversoul with Faust? Oh!" Lyserg ran towards Faust, but before he could…

SILVER HORN!

Silva, an expert at flying, attacked Lyserg from afar , and Lyserg fell towards the edge clinging.

"So this is the strength you have? Lyserg? I thought you were the strongest of the group?" Silva stepped towards Lyserg, and stepping on his hand, kicked his grip on the edge.

"AHHHHH!" the dying echo was heard as he dropped to his doom.

"Horohoro look out!" Ryu yelled, as Silva swiftly attacked Horohoro and left him hanging as well. But before he could take advantage of the situation, Ren ran to his protection, parrying as Yoh did just a while ago, with more fury nonetheless.

As Ren was distracting Silva, Horohoro struggled to get up, and finally after the help of Ryu, made it to the top. Ren was quickly loosing foryoku in the midst of him trying to worry about Horohoro and the clinging Yoh. Horohoro made for Ren, standing behind him in support.

"YOH! YOH! Get up Yoh!" Horohoro yelled, screaming to the quiet body lying behind him…

"It's no use Horohoro" Ren said, blocking his face, walking towards the culprit who had attacked him.

"Now it's us against you…" Ren began, as Horohoro stepped beside him, both of them determined to take care of Silva no matter what Yoh would think of holding back. He was truly not the Silva they knew.

"Silva."

A barely inaudible but familiar voice rang through the area. Out of the shadows stepped a new figure, Ryu, not knowing what to think, got ready for the new enemy.

"What happened to Silva?" Ren's eyes widened, as he saw the person he least expected to see, with her faithful spirit following straight behind her.

"Jun?" Ren questioned, as his sister looked towards him in awe.

------------------------------------------

_Yay! Finally I'm done. Oh my gosh—writing 2,500 words is much harder than it looks out to be --. I can't wait for the next chapter though. I want to get to Hao fast . … I'm tired of writing now at 1:30am---_


	6. The Spirits

_Instead of making a 6,000+ word chapter as I was planning to make, I was going to actually just somehow skip all the plant fights and get to Hao—but I don't think Takei-San would have done that, so what I did was plan to write all the plants up and decide to dedicate a chapter each to them, so that I might go to Hao where I plan to finish this fanfiction off—aka Yoh x Anna x Hao. That will be the fun part. Anna of course is my second favorite character in the series, and thus I think I can do a good job with it._

_After much research I found out the names of the other Patch and Plateaus (well I think I did) and so now that I have all their names I'm good to go… Man I research too much for this fanfiction. It seems like a research paper… _

_I think I'm a very bad fan fiction writer Oo I try to improve but really fail dies. Hmm but for a heads up, school has started so even though I started THIS chapter 3 months ago, I'm finishing it months later. But from now on, on the weekends at night I'll spend time and try to release more often after school ends on the 16 of December… at least biweekly. For a heads up we have the plant of the Forest, Cave, Ocean, Glacier, and Universe to go through before Hao comes. So that's this chapter, and 4 more (the forest plant,-- well you'll see) and then finally Hao . If you stick it till then P These chapters are all action. Is not SK a shounen :D after all?_

_I also want to say, writing this fan fiction takes a lot more time than I thought it would. The more and more I look into SK the MORE and MORE I find unanswered questions and things I should have covered or addressed before that seem sort of out of character. I don't know, it's so stressful…I do love looking up messworld and seeing the brilliant ideas about SK there, but the forum is so not updated, and in the light of things, it is so very hard to place everything in chronological order like they should be. Why am I like this ;;-- why does Takei san have to make things so complicated :(. But either way, I know it will be impossible to cover all the questions, so I'll try to at least cover partial of them. There is no real right answer._

_EDIT: Mista caught something and , and I apologize. Read at the bottom of the chapter to see the edit_

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

The scene was an awkward one, a large Y shaped pathway lay ahead of Jun as she came in. On the right hand side sat Ryu resting on a boulder, and underneath, Chocolove comfortably leaning on it for support with a sleeping Opacho in his lap. Lyserg was not in sight, but the scowling spirits of Redseb and Faust stood in grave silence, all of them looking in the same left-hand direction. On the left, slightly blocking her view, was the figure of a tall ebony-haired Pache, and behind him, Ren and and Horohoro, both with distressed expressions, standing close in a crimson liquid in the midst of their soles.

"Jun…? When did you…" Ren stammered, temporarily forgetting about the foe in front him and tilting his head slightly to see his sister more clearly. Horohoro kept an eye on Silva, half-expecting sudden movements, while Redseb and the rest of the audience, although not showing any immediate signs of surprise, watched their new friend walk forward. Ryu, however, didn't glance anywhere but forward, with face that looked both devastated and caught up in deep thought.

"What happened to Yoh?" asked Jun, pointing at the small open hand behind the standing figures of Ren and Horohoro. Telling by Silva's sly smile and Horohoro's attentive glances, Jun knew that something had gone terribly wrong, and did not to say anything rash in fear of Silva who seemed to be watching her every movement. "Why is lying there like that? His spirit is weak."

"He's dead, his spirit is leaving his body" Ryu mumbled, almost as-a-matter of fact, staring straight at the body lying in a small pool of blood. Jun, searching for assurance turned to a nodding Ren whose eyes were now bloodshot. Looking closer, Jun spotted the tears developing in Ren's eyes which seemed to just sit there without falling, and did not doubt any further. She broke out in a quick run towards the body, but before her small feet could even reach half-way through, found herself stopped by Silva who had suddenly held out his hand a few feet in front of her.

"!"

"I won't be afraid to kill you." Silva said, illuminating, turning his head to reveal his sharp but determined side profile.

"Jun step back." Ren warned, stepping sideways to talk to his sister face-to-face, "This doesn't concern you, you don't belong here."

"But…" Jun stammered, holding her head down where she could see Yoh's hand as white as frost.

"Jun!" she was brought back to her senses, and now glared at Ren as he wiped the small threatening drops out of his eyes.

Jun stepped in the other direction, in order to see Yoh's head, which was barely visible between Horohoro's ankles. _He's not lost just yet, I just need to get close enough,_ she told herself.

"Ren. We are wasting our energy just standing here." Horohoro tapped Ren on the shoulder who came back to his senses, and turned his face back towards Silva.

"Heh. Not to worry. After I kill you, I'll be sure to send you your sister as company." Silva mocked, ignoring Ren's death-defying stare.

"Don't let him get to you Ren. You know what happens when you get too emotional or think too much. Remember Niklom?" Horohoro softly said, within his gritted teeth.

"You can brag after we finish this fight." Ren smiled, getting a hold of himself. _I can't let him get to me, Horohoro is right. I need to defeat him now before we can get anywhere._

Horohoro and Ren now stood back-to-back with their weapons in their hands, ready for Silva.

"SILVER BLADE!" Silva yelled, not waiting for a further invitation. And propelled himself into the air, his wings slightly bent, and swinging the newly produced giant turtle shelled sword against Horohoro. Horohoro, already anticipating his movements, dodged it easily by jumping to the right hand side, landing in a perfect stance, while Ren took the opening and distraction to jump above the Pache, doing an acrobatic somersault in which he swung his weapon horizontally towards Silva.

No Luck. Silva blocked his attacks with ease. Ren, not paying too much attention to it, tried to make up for it, as he double-backed and aimed once again at his back, slightly elevated above the standing Silva.

"YAAAA!" Ren cried (A/N: the battle cry thing that everyone seems to have need of)

"Don't bother with your childish moves." Silva smiled and slashed upward, striking Ren on the shoulder, sending him flying toward the ground as fast as he had come, swatting him like a fly.

This time, Ren was knocked out of breath.

_Huff huff huff _"Yoh trusted you." _Huff _ "You can't even fight simple brainwashing, what a wonderful mentor." Ren murmured sarcastically, clutching his shoulder and rotating to look at Silva.

"Heh. The loss of blood is getting you dil…"

FLASH

"I bet on the Ice user. He supports nature." Kalim smiled, pointing towards Horohoro.

"Don't bet yet, the other one is strong as well." Silva and his spirits reassured, seeing the lazy Yoh who was being attacked by an ice avalanche launched by the blue-haired boy.

END FLASH

"lusional… they only reminded me of who I am, a non-biased Patch" Silva finished, clutching his head.

"Non-biased? I suppose they could say that, when many of them supported Hao's side either way" Ren fired back, still firmly grasping his small white shoulder.

"What they do is none of my concern, and Hao is the rightful Shaman King, after all you all were too scared to face him when you could. The others aren't held responsible for anything. You seem to try distracting from the subject." Silva answered calmly, trying to take his mind off the dark spots he was seeing.

"It's sad really." _Huff_ "You don't see how they use you." Ren muttered, finally catching his breath.

"Sad? You yourself forfeited the shaman tournament to Hao in order to take a 'so-called' easier route in defeating him. Don't you find THAT sad? Or should I say… cowardly." Silva sarcastically proclaimed, tilting his head slightly to the left like a parrot.

"Cowardly. Pfft… What would you know?" Ren argued, now prepared for his next attack, adrenaline rushing throughout his body.

Rushing forward, Ren once again swung his weapon towards Silva who responded with his blade in a perfect collision. Both of them head on, glaring through clashing weapons.

"To think you can defeat me, you don't know me or my power. The Silva you thought you knew is dead. This is the true me, not the coward I was before." Silva reassured.

"You really think they know you? All they did was have you do their dirty work, and you don't even run a plant here, do you?" said Ren, gritting his teeth.

_Clang_ "You shouldn't worry about your enemies, you've gone soft haven't you? Maybe I should remind you of your old self", Silva answered, suddenly taking a step backwards and charging towards Ren with the same sword-like blade. "You think Yoh saved you? Look where your savior is now?"

_Clang Clang Clang _

Ren blocked all Silva's swings, _is he getting faster?_ "No. He's not dead yet, and despite _your_ disillusioned mind I am not as soft hearted enough not to kill YOU!" Ren swung again more forcefully

"Ren…" Horohoro beckoned from the background.

"Don't get into this fight just yet Horohoro, I can handle him." Ren answered back.

"But…"

"Silva watch what you say, you'll be eating your words soon." Ren said, turning his attention once more from Horohoro onto Silva, beginning his next attack.

In the background, Horohoro watched Redseb arguing with Faust.

"What DO YOU mean it's missing!" Redseb threw a tantrum.

"Actually, I didn't notice until Ryu told me." Faust said as-a-matter-of-fact, hugging and kissing Eliza who was on the side.

"Well I did TRY to tell you. But I forgot. Everything went so fast." Ryu suddenly said.

"What… RYUUUU! God you guys are so worthless! If you didn't sit there kissing your dead girlfriend all the time, and Ryu in a daze, this could have been prevented!" Redseb tugged at his hair, clenching his teeth and yelling into the air.

"Weren't you supposed to take care of it anyways? I mean that is why you were sent to us. Don't talk to your elders that way." Ryu replied softly, now turning towards the more-angered Redseb.

"Well! I was supposed to bring it to you guys is all! Hao didn't make me take care of it. He just said, 'take this to them, I won't let you die that peacefully until you do.'"

"And you listened to him? Please, if that was the case you would have passed on long ago, if that was all you wanted to do."

"Tha... That… isn't the point" Redseb continued arguing with Ryu, but now barely mumbled an answer to his question "I wanted to see you guys defeat him. _Revenge._"

"Look Redseb, yelling and screaming about it isn't going to help." Intersected Faust who had just recently decided to care about what he was talking about.

Walking towards them, Horohoro, tried to help the situation, "It's not like it could have gone missing. How can you misplace _that_? Maybe we left it back somewhere. You really are a little kid."

"ARGG! This is pointless!" replied Redseb, now throwing himself on the floor in agony, "I remember bringing it with me here. I don't know what happened after that. I was watching the fight…" he said, staring at the black sky above them, thinking perhaps it was hiding somewhere up there. _No it can't hide…_

Ryu, shaking his head at the argument, watched Ren and Silva fighting, and stretched out his legs and sat back down. _Sigh_ "I suggest we look for it then…"

"Ya… GREAT idea, that's like something I CAN'T see anywhere in the room. Maybe it's in your pocket Ryu." The eight year old boy remarked.

Opening one eye, Opacho, who wasn't able to take a nap with all this bickering, got up and decided to say something on his masters' behalf. "I'm glad Hao-sama left Opacho with you. I noticed it was gone before you and your friends even thought about it."

"What?" Horohoro turned towards Opacho. Chocolove straightened his legs and now stood up, attentive towards the conversation. Opacho had a habit of just talking something intelligent when he wanted to, and then the rest of the time he was not good for anything.

"Opacho saw it leave."

"You saw it leave?" Redseb questioned

_nod_

"Well then. WHY didn't you tell us before!" Redseb stretched out his arms and sat back up, questioning Opacho.

_Silence except for the swords and attack yelling in the background._

"…so… um… do you wan'na tell us?" Redseb continued.

"?" Opacho questioned.

"Where it WENT!" Redseb continued.

"Please…"

"_please! _You want me to say please!" Chocolove snickered in the background until he received a reprimanding look from Faust.

"Just do it will you, god I hate kids." Horohoro pushed Redseb, who gave him a death glare.

"_PLEASE_ tell me where it went."

Opacho, turning his small curl-filled hair, pointed his finger towards the bottom of the cliff. Redseb's impatience now got the best of him as he dramatically rolled his eyes and began to say something before he noticed Horohoro and Chocolove's faces display looks of fear.

On the far right hand side probably a hundred yards away, Redseb suddenly saw Silva lifting his sword, planning to bring it down on a bloody Ren supporting himself on a splattered rock wall. How the situation had gotten there so fast no one knew, but everyone was aware that someone had better do something, and quick.

"Heh. You can't revive if your body is too damaged and chopped up" Silva smiled, bringing the triangular weapon straight down with perfect aim.

"Even if you get me, you won't defeat the others. Me and Yoh were the WEAKEST among them anyways." mocked the fading Ren.

_Slash_

Silva closed his eyes while slicing forward, "You silly boy, to think… you could defeat a Patch. Do you think we would guard Mu if we didn't have the Furyoku and skills to back it up? Who will help you now?" He felt the warm stick liquid splash over him.

Silva continued to close his eyes, his head was giving him a splitting headache now, it had been this way since he started the fight and was distracting him from carrying out his movements properly. But, no matter, he had achieved in killing off two of the intruders already. The rest of them would be no hassle, plus seeing what had happened to their friends, their spirits were probably broken.

Silence.

He opened his eyes, in order to see the damage he had done to the small pointed haired boy. The sight though, was far from what he had expected.

His headache was getting worse.

"! What?" Silva looked at the empty spot in front him,

"Heh. You seem to forget that we aren't alone. Unlike you Silva … Ren has friends, the same ones you lost."

FLASH

"Hey Silva?" Yoh smiled, staring up at the sky.

The field was a beautiful one, above the Patch village, a secret spot that Silva had decided to take Yoh.

"Hmm?" Silva smiled back, staring at the boy.

"Did you ever try to count the stars?" coolly questioned the contestant who now sat himself on a small rock.

"Well, I never tried. I don't have time for such things, the Patch are a very busy people. The Shaman tournament is what I was trained to prepare for my whole life. Besides you can't ever count stars"

"That doesn't make sense."

"Counting Stars?" Silva glanced a confused look at the child.

"No" Yoh's eyes got serious.

"Then…"

"How can you prepare your whole life for someone else? You live for yourself. You must have done other things, if not how could you have known about this place?"

"Heh." Remarked Silva, _this one is very different, he has a good aura about him_ "Kalim and I used to come here all the time. We were quite the trouble makers."

"Tell me about it." Yoh now turned his head towards Silva, grinning his silly smile.

"About what?"

"Your life."

"…"

"Silva"

"?"

"You can always count stars, it's like counting the things in the future, you never know what will appear or disappear next."

Silva smiled at the deep thinker who he sure would be the winner of the tournament.

"Always the optimist."

"Hehe" Yoh goofed.

END OF FLASH

The splitting headache was getting worse by the minute. _What is going on with these flashbacks?_ Silva sat upright, and feeling the tears in his eyes, vigorously rubbed them. _Probably eye irritation. _

As the headache subsided, Silva wiped his wet hands on his robe and looked down again towards the voice that had spoken less than a minute before. Ryu hovered over the wounded Ren, supporting him with his arm. His shoulder and arm, although pressed by Ren slightly, was bleeding profusely.

_The blood, it must have been his arm, but when did he... _Silva thought.

"Alone? Nonsense." Silva said, breaking the silence. Now stable due to the dying headache, he brought his shaky blade up again, and this time, aimed perfectly on Ryu's ebony-pointed head. With his white arm bleeding, and covering Ren, the ghost-like Ryu seemed to welcome the unavoidable death ahead. As the blade came down, his eyes closed, as Ren lay hidden within his hard chest.

"RYUUUUU!" yelled Horohoro, breaking into a vain run to stop Silva. He couldn't even reach 10 yards before he saw Ryu slump to the floor, his chest heaving heavily.

In agony, Ryu could hear his heart beat thumping in his ears. _I'm so useless, I always have to be saved. It's my turn to do something for my friends, and… for Yoh._ As his last thoughts faded out, Ryu slightly opened his lids to see a shocked Ren staring at him. Smiling sympathetically, Ryu intentionally slid on Ren, knowing he had done his best.

Everything seemed to go silent as everyone held their breath, watching in shock as Ryu died in Mu for the second time. Within a few seconds of his death, Silva kicked Ryu aside with his tough feet, revealing Ren underneath. Before Horohoro could grasp what was happening, Silva was already bringing down his blade once again, now straight towards the beautiful young Chinese boy.

There was nothing to do… Horohoro stood in shock, either recovering from the sudden death before him, or astonished by how quick the situation had deteriorated.

Two were dead, one facing the grim reaper, and the rest in shock… But as quickly as the situation had changed, the tables once again began turning…

"SPIRIT OF FIRE"

The area ignited on fire, sparks flying towards Silva, burning his hand, making him drop the sword on the ground.

"Oversoul, **KAKYUU!**" (A/N: Thank you Janice for the Japanese word for 'Fireball')

"What the…" Redseb gaped as fire surrounded everyone. From the bottom the red spirit arose, in its arms a small figure. As it rose higher, fire seemed to engulf the pathways. Mu seemed to be lit with dancing flames, dark corners revealing engraved drawings and numbers. All looked above, focusing their eyes in the sudden light and on the figure guiding it.

"Lyserg…" Horohoro managed to say. "I thought you were…"

"Dead?" Lyserg smiled back at them. "No. I'll explain later though." Smiled Lyserg, now fully emerged, revealed the powerful oversoul that they had only glimpsed before from afar.

(A/N: Remember that the only ones who REALLY saw the power of Korubina Armor oversoul in full fledge were Yoh and Anna in Chapter 250. Hao blocks Lysergs' moves in the baths in Volume 30 with it as well, but no real action there. Then they go after Mantas dad, and everyone watches in awe from afar, but didn't really get a good look at it up close—though freaked out already)

"Now to try out this new oversoul…"

Lyserg now floated towards Silva with keen interest, who in turn eyed him with both curiosity and fear. _When did he?_

"What's wrong Silva. Surprised? This time it's over and you know it. You killed Yoh and I plan to exact that revenge. Yoh believed in you. And you…" a quick fire glistened in the green-haired boy's eyes, "betrayed him." the dancing flames suddenly grew a large number.

Lyserg now waved his hand in a quick sweep, out of which seemed to explode a burst of fire, following his movements downwards across Silva's chest. The Patch however, did not show any sign of pain, but amusement.

"Haha…"

"What's so funny Silva? Laughing at your death?"

"No. It's ironic isn't it. You of all people, wielding the old powerful spirit of the new Shaman King himself. Your supposed hatred towards him is just an excuse, since you unconditionally took the very spirit that he killed your parents with. Plus, being a fire user, I think it's more than coincidental."

Lyserg, now looking surprised and hurt, gritted his teeth, trying to control his tears as well as his temper.

"Fufu… and to think you want to use that spirit to get to Hao-Sama. Who would have thought? Fighting the Shaman King with his own spirit? Fufu…"

Lyserg, now more angry than astonished, could not hold back his temper any longer.

"You think it's a joke, but I can beat Hao with or without his spirit. In my hands it is not the soul eating monster he made it to be."

"Ah but that spirit is only as strong as it is since our Shaman King fed it with countless souls. By using it, you yourself are supporting the action, as you are utilizing the spirits within it. Even if you kill me now, you might as well realize this fact and accept it."

"… Enough of chit chat, last time I went easy on you-- but this time, my armored oversoul will destroy you totally." Lyserg now extended his arm as the metal around him engulfed his small figure moving forward as he did, aiming straight toward Silva, and Silva mocking him all the way.

"Spirit of Fi…"

"re…"

_swish swish_

Suddenly, a scabbard hit Lyserg, making him lose his concentration. Since it flew to the back of his head, Lyserg slowly turned around, to get a better look at the culprit. There… Standing and once again smiling was…

"Lyserg, you jump to conclusions too easily, thanks for covering for me, but let me finish what I started." The figure stepped forward, as Lyserg converted his spirit back to it's original form, standing in the midst of its' palm. Silva, taking advantage of the distraction, turned around, expecting to find Ren which he was planning to finish off earlier. But instead, nothing was the way he had left it. Only a moment before the bodies of Ryu, Ren and Yoh… _When... How did they?_

"Don't bother Silva." The boy now had his hand on the shoulder of Lyserg, who had his spirit lower him down slowly on the paved pathway of stone.

"Yoh."

"Lyserg was the final distraction, Jun was planning out a way to get me out of there without you noticing, and when Lyserg appeared with his fire, she made her move, asking Redseb to help move the bodies away from you. There, she revived me, with whatever little Foryoku she had." Yoh smiled, extending his hand in the direction of Jun who was a couple yards away from him, panting and smiling through her canopy-colored locks of hair.

"This time I'll finish you. We have to get to Hao. When we do, we can always revive you. Forgive me Silva…"

"Forgive…" Silva knitted his eyebrows.

"MuMu" Silva prepared himself to use whatever energy to block his attack, as it was the same old one he used only moments ago. It would be easy…

FLASH

Silva's head was reeling, as his headache suddenly began once more…

FLASHBACK-----------------------

"What are you doing?" Silva yelled, seeing Yoh doing jumping jacks in the middle of creek below.

"Training." Panted Yoh, looking above at Silva leaning over the small bridge.

"Training? Is Anna making you do this again."

"Yup."

"Haha… that girl is really something."

"She said I couldn't eat dinner if I didn't finish 500 of these by 8pm."

"Well it's 7pm, how many have you finished so far?"

"250."

"When did you start?"

"4 hours ago."

"I guess you won't be able to eat dinner tonight. If you want you can come to my place."

"Really!" Yoh stopped doing his exercises. "But I don't know if Anna will allow that…"

"Ah I see. But you know, it would make it a lot easier to do those if you took off that jacket and just did it with your shorts on. The thing about water training is that it weighs you down if you have clothes on since the water seeps into them."

"I'll try it." Yoh began throwing off his headphones and clothes with only his under shorts on.

"This does help! Thank you Silva! You always teach me so many things. I don't know what I could do without you."

"Heh. Good luck." Silva turned around _It was just common sense_, hearing Yoh's 1,2,3 's in the background, headed cheerfully back to his place.

END FLASHBACK-----------------------------------

"…MyouYakuMu"

The headache stopped, and the next thing Silva knew, he was lying on the ground. He knew that he was dying as he saw the dark blood flooding beneath him. The thing was, he didn't feel cold anymore, but warm, as he saw Yoh hover over him with sad gloomy eyes. Before thinking, single tears rolled down his face as he surprised himself by uttering his last two words…

"I'm sorry."

Yoh nodded, sad, and as Silva's last breath gave away, Yoh closed his eyelids and silently stepped backwards towards the others.

Silence.

"Yoh…" Ren said, bandaged by Jun, who seemed very tired, and fading.

"Don't worry so much Ren" Yoh encouraged, with a silly grin. Behind him, Lyserg stared intensely, as if in deep thought.

"I don't understand. Yoh. It seems like you could defeat him so easily, yet when you were fighting before you were having so much trouble…" Lyserg questioned, looking at Yoh for a precise answer. Ren's eyes now jolted up, realizing he had never thought of that before.

"..." Yoh's eyes suddenly drooped, and he seemed to be thinking of what to say. "It…" he began, before stopping once again, scratching head nervously.

"You don't have to listen to Lyserg Yoh, we all were very stressed out from the previous fights." Ren justified, now trying to bend his arm slightly as Jun had just tied the bandage in a knot with her teeth, and began walking back towards the rest of the group. Ryu was still lying on the floor physically dead, but Jun seemed too tired to do anything about it, though she inaudibly acknowledged him as she walked by.

"No… It wasn't that. I heard something while I was fighting Silva." Yoh finished his sentence.

"Heard something? Like a bug? Did you hear ghosts? This place is pretty scary…" Horohoro now interjected, leaning towards them as if a secret was about to be told.

"It isn't that actually… I thought I heard a voice…"

"A voice?" Lyserg questioned

"Who's voice?" Ren finished Lyserg's cross-examination. By this time Chocolove had already joined the group, leaving Ryu, Redseb, and Opacho with Jun who had made herself comfortable on the big rock that Ryu was previously sitting on. Jun looked at Ryu intently, nodding as if she had made up a decision to revive him.

"Anna's."

"ANNA!" Chocolove now jumped, looking at Yoh as if he were crazy.

"How could you hear Anna's voice? She isn't even here." Ren reasoned, lifting himself up, and stretching.

"I don't know. Shortly after we left the Plateau I could sort of _sense_ her here."

"Sense her… I don't know Yoh… But you said you could hear her voice? So were you sensing her then, or did you actually HEAR a voice? Perhaps these caves are playing tricks on our minds" Lyserg shook his head, trying to see what Yoh would respond with.

"No I could hear her..."

"What was she saying?" Horohoro asked, seeing that Yoh seemed quite serious about this.

"She seemed to be in trouble. I think she was asking me to do something for her. But I couldn't really make out what it was. I was distracted with Silva. Something is wrong though, we should hurry" Yoh gripped his head.

"Hmm… that's really weird..." Chocolove responded, running his fingers down his chin like he knew something no one else did.

"Anyways you guys better get going." Jun interrupted, and pointed to the door for the new plant, seated nicely on a pair of steps extending from a sidepath.

"What about Ryu…" Redseb looked at the body which was still lying there.

"Leave him."

Everyone suddenly hushed and turned towards the figure who had spoken. Ren was glancing quietly at the injured shaman.

"You can't…he…he…sav-- " Chocolove began before Yoh's hands obstructed itself across his face.

"Leave him Chocolove." Yoh firmly agreed with Ren, who now had his back towards his savior and began walking forward.

"But HOW can you…" Chocolove prompted before Horohoro pulled his shirt forward to lift him face-to-face with him.

"Chocolove. Don't argue. We all care about Ryu." Horohoro explained, loosening the grip in the boy. "But we don't have any more foryoku to waste. Jun has already done way too much for us... Ryu can't help us anymore; he wouldn't have wanted us to waste our resources on him, when we have a chance to finish off what we came for."

"…" the speechless Chocolove now followed the ice user towards the door slowly with his head held down. But almost as soon as they had begun walking, Ren suddenly came to a sudden halt.

"Why did you…?" Chocolove began before Ren turned around enough to put his index finger delicately over his lips signaling for silence. It was then that they heard IT. Someone _or something_ was coming towards the room. The light footsteps were barely perceptible, but they were there. How Ren had heard them with so many distractions in the room still amazed Chocolove, but he stayed calm like the others with an inquisitive look in his eyes.

Looking around, Chocolove still didn't know what to think of the footsteps, he could tell they were coming from below, as they were quickly heading towards the direction in which Jun had entered the pathway, almost directly perpendicular to the doorway of the next plateau. Glancing at the others once more, Chocolove saw everyone's faces anticipating the next moves and getting ready to attack. Lyserg now stood impatiently in his new giant's spirits hand. Morphine looked a bit jealous, but fluttered closely beside him. Chocolove, however, had a weird feeling that it was friend, not foe. But, then again, he was always the optimist in the group.

The footsteps were now deathly close, and as everyone watched, they finally saw the culprit. Walking with her head held high, white dress fluttering behind her through her quick steps, was…

"Sati?" Yoh gaped stupidly.

"Yes. These spirits are hard to handle and slowed me down."

"Spirits?" Yoh questioned, looking inquisitively at her again, but having no luck in finding the 'spirits'.

"Just come over here." Sati answered in monotone. The gang now moved towards the other end, wondering what she was talking about. When the turned in the entrance and around the bend, they were shocked to see what she what she was referring to.

"The elemental spirits…"

-----------------------------------------------------

Edit: Mista and the first reviewer pointed out a mistake. It is impossible for Lyserg to use the Spirit of Fire Armor Oversoul, he doesn't have quite enough Foryoku for it. As for how he can use it: I'll sort of address that next chapter. So all Lyserg can do really is Spit out fireballs XD and devour things. But Silva is wounded enough for it to make a difference.

**A/N: Ch 4,5,6 Put Together: **

_I should probably say that this chapter tied in everything, but one thing to note: Okay, so in Chapter 4 Anna saw Yoh lying on the floor bleeding from his head for a brief second that Rutherfor brought up the map, then in Chapter 5, Yoh sinks to the ground a brief moment with his leg busted. Of course blood was probably over Yoh throughout the fight, he was getting slashed up badly, and Anna had time to notice his head, and then sinking to the floor in his own blood made it seem worse. Hence, that is what Anna saw when Yoh's leg was busted, so the time she was fighting Rutherfor, was the time that Yoh was fighting Silva. And then, Yoh claims to have heard Anna's voice… which would have been right before his death, when everyone was yelling at Yoh about Silva and his weakness or whatever, bringing about his first death. Now might as well tell you that, if you haven't figured it out yet, that what he was hearing was Anna's last call to Yoh before she drops the bracelet. So Anna and Yoh die at the same time generally, Yoh following her slightly afterwards. Ya, thought I'd set that all straight in chronological order. there, though you probably figured it out already. _


	7. FOREST

_I finally am done with this chapter. God I myself am really annoyed at how long it will take to get to the final Hao fight. Hence, I wrote this chapter and the next in one go, and I plan to post the next one in the next day or so (even today maybe). So rest assured within these two chapters all of the plants will be done and we will get to the final showdown. This chapter is dedicated to my new Shaman King fanbook and Manjien :P. _

--------------------------------------------------------------

There, as they turned the corner, everyone seemed to quiet at the magnificent sight in front of them. Small drops of water resounded across the hard rock floor, falling from places that were unknown to the remaining warriors. Even their breaths seemed to be below a whisper. The silence was not felt by any of them, however, as they were far too busy gawking at what lay in front of them. By this time, everyone had come to see the commotion.

Even Chocolove, the fairly loud one, could do nothing but lift his chin up and stare, his hair standing on its end. The only one not seeming surprised in any of this was little Opacho who glided to Yoh's side and looked upon everything as another obstacle that had come between her and Hao. Sati smirked at the ordeal.

They briefly remembered the first time they had seen an elemental spirit, the fear and excitement they felt when Asakura Hao first showed them him the Spirit of Fire (S.O.F.). The red being was so large that even Ren had felt challenged simply by its appearance. However, it did not seem to matter at all, since even that spirit could not prepare them for the others. If anything, these were far more terrifying than the S.O.F. Or maybe it was just the sheer difference between all of them.

Each spirit was different: colors, elements, and appearance distinguished them apart, and none of them knew what to say, which was which, or how to react to them. It was only after a good minute's silence that Sati decided to break the shock, and begin explaining to them, intending to give them to the warriors, who were the world's last hope. For herself, she had her own powerful spirit, but even she could sense that the only ones who would be able to fight Hao would be these mere children in front of her.

"REN!" Sati said strongly, though through the silence the words echoed like an announcement. Ren glanced at her as did the others. Sati stepped towards a spirit, seated on the ground with its head peaking out.

The head itself came to a point and then extending like a pyramid down to the neck. The legs were fairly short, and seemed like those that belonged to a kangaroo. The spirit itself was glowing the color of gold. A yellow shade that Ren had trouble looking at in the darkness but was now getting used to.

"This is the Spirit of Thunder (S.O.T). This is your spirit, and has the elemental properties assigned you. It is known for its strength and power. The arms are lean and thus can be made to do things that the other spirits cannot." Ren nodded at Sati's comments and began circling the spirit in front of him.

"Over here" Sati said, now addressing the blue spirit that was kneeling to the right of the S.O.T, "Is the Spirit of Rain (S.O.R), Horo Horo's companion." Horo Horo attentively looked up and tip-toed closer, almost afraid to make any movements less the spirit move from its knightly position.

Looking upwards, Horo Horo could see the aggregation on its neck, which was probably the head, or so he figured. It looked like a huge junk of pie to him, and something out of that alien movie he had seen a couple nights before. The arms had blade like structures making him afraid to get too close to, but he winced at the thought of how an enemy might feel if touched by it. The knee area had coverings extending almost up to what could be called the pelvic bone.

"Your spirit is adept in using ice and water. It's hands have very good defense, in case needed."

Leaving Horohoro to the spirit, Sati now slid next to the other two spirits that were standing in the back of the other two. For these, she looked impatiently at Chocolove and Yoh, who took their cue to follow. Cutting between the S.O.T. and S.O.R, the two bent their neck upwards to see the weird things that were in front of them.

To the right was a sort of angelic like spirit that was a blinding white. Wings bordered its waist, and arms, while the legs were more like pieces that seemed to look like a birds. The head had the same aerodynamic structure with a point going from the back and one swooping beneath its chin. This was…

"The Spirit of Wind (S.O.W). This one has the power of flight and can attack from above. It is the most swift of the spirits."

Finally, Sati stared at Yoh, who had re-established his familiar goofy grin upon his face. The spirit he was standing under was by far the largest in size. It looked more like a gigantic rock than any sort of elemental spirit. Instead of feet it had these drill like points that looked like screws. The body had a lot of mass and as Chocolove stepped behind Sati he thought to himself that just one hit from _THAT_ could knock anyone flat. The color certainly fit Yoh's character: it was green A/N: Verde! (I'm sorry I couldn't resist).

"That, is the last spirit, the Spirit of Earth (S.O.E). The spirit itself tends to be slow, but it's powers might be the greatest of all- it has the highest strength and defense. Although extremely lacking in speed, it can create protection for not only itself, but for others. Certainly befitting…"

Sati then faced all the warriors, including Lyserg who had positioned himself in front of all. She began instructing them.

"These spirits are very large in their true form, however, you can compress them- as Asakura Hao did with the S.O.F, they are the elements found in the world, so it makes sense for them to seemingly hide themselves in the surroundings until they are needed."

"The spirits size reflect the size of your foryoku and will, which explains why Lyserg's S.O.F. is far smaller than Hao's although still intimidating. Also remember that you can combine these spirits, or use two or more spirits at once, just as Silva did in his form. This way you don't have to abandon your guardian spirit. But still remember that the furyoku should be properly distributed to your standards among these spirits."

At this, the warriors looked at the S.O.F, and noticed for the first time that the spirit was indeed large, but not nearly as large as when Hao had used it.

"How do we compress it?" Ren said, very straightforward in what he wanted to know.

"Will them to do so, just as you would undo your oversoul. And then when you need them, they'll appear" At this, everyone's spirits vanished, and Yoh let out a huge sigh in relief.

"So how did you get them?" Horo Horo asked Sati

"Not really your concern. Just know they are yours." Everyone knew not to question any further. Once again, there was a brief moment of silence which lasted until Yoh decided to break it.

"Well, now that we have this taken care of, let's get onto the next plant." He stated, heading towards the door that had been long forgotten due to the fight Silva had begun. The others followed him without any arguments, Sati's quiet steps resounding in the back of the line. However, something was definitely different this time around.

"… is it just me or…" Chocolove commented.

"…no… the door…" Horo Horo responded, not even letting the afro-headed boy finish.

The large door which was, just a couple minutes back, tightly shut, now stood open, ominously inviting the group within itself. The group stared suspiciously, surprised, since previously the plant doors had always remained closed until they approached and it manually opened. However, this time around, it was open. This perplexed the warriors, most of all Ren, who suspiciously eyed the pathway. In either case, no one wanted to make the first move.

"Hmm that is weird. Oh well." Yoh said, unconsciously relieving all the suspicions of the group. Sati merely stared ahead.

"Hey Redseb, are you coming?" Chocolove addressed the little boy who did not seem to move from where he was standing.

"No… I think I have had enough. I am tired, I miss my sister… my mother. I am not of any help, I couldn't do anything… to help them, to help you, or even myself…" Redseb replied slowly, tears coming to his eyes. Yoh smiled slowly, walking back towards him and grasping him around the shoulders tightly.

"I understand. Don't worry you can stay here. But please, we need you desperately to do one more important thing." Redseb nodded slowly at this, the tears now flooding his face and blurring his eyesight.

"Watch over Ryu's body with Tokageroh" Yoh pointed towards the lifeless form at the other end. "I don't want anything to happen to it. We can still revive him in due time, and we'll be back soon. Please just do that." Redseb nodded now, wiping his nose on his sleeve, on which Yoh kissed his tiny forehead, and headed back to the remaining group, positioning himself in front of them.

At this, the group slowly stepped within the plant, walking forward until their faces gawking at the beauty that lay before them.

This plant was obviously the plant of the forest. Within it were luscious trees of all shapes and sizes alive with the noises resounding from their inhabitants. Where the group entered, the trees were sparingly spaced out but as they looked ahead they could see the dense forest ahead. The ground was green and moist, smelling just like freshly-cut grass in the morning dew. But in a matter of minutes, as the warriors and followers made their way down the grassy pathway littered with palms, darkness engulfed them. The dense foliage had grown visibly thicker, decreasing the amount of light penetrating through the leaves above. Now slowing their steps, the crowd could hear the animal sounds getting louder, drowning out whatever silence that was left. The wanderers began to pair unconsciously; Chocolove with Opacho on his back clung to Horohoro, Ren walked alongside the frightened Jun, and Sati moved towards the front with Yoh. Faust, Amidamaru, and Bailong chatted quietly in the back. Soon enough, their eyes began trying to adjust to the increasingly dense canopies, while the soles of their shoes sank into the wet soil below them. Sati lifted her dress, raising it slightly above her ankles, and pulling two clips from her hair, pinning the two sides of her gown to keep from dragging.

"Sister, will you stop that." Ren attempted to address Jun quietly, which, after being carried through the humid air, seemed like a command. At this Jun loosened her grip on Ren's arm and edged closer to Bailong.

"It's good we are sticking together, because I have a feeling we might run into some dangerous animals here." Horohoro uttered.

"Ya… like Tigers, Lions, or Bears." Chocolove answered.

"Bears don't live in jungles." Lyserg instinctively said.

"In either case… we should be a bit more quiet and listen to the sounds around us. Anna always told me that if I ever got lost to listen and the animals would guide me through." Yoh commented.

"I'm guessing you were lost often" Sati thought out load. At this, Yoh laughed quietly, and the others just shook their heads at his stupidity. Sometimes even they wondered how someone as strong as Anna could stand to be around him. But then again, Anna did like bossing people around, and Yoh was certainly easy to control. Of course, the same question could be asked of Yoh.

Timed perfectly with Yoh's remark, Sati halted and held out her slender arm motioning the others to do the same. Chocolove began to comment, but was met with Horohoro's finger on top of his lips, signaling him not to say anything. The forest had suddenly grown quiet.

Suddenly, before they knew it, they heard a hiss, and listening closely, the gang glanced on top of the tall branch above them. Slithering around his humble abode, a camouflaged snake darted it's yellow cat-like eyes towards the prey below. As fast as they had seen it, the snake suddenly propelled itself from the tree and landed straight into Jun's hair. Jun let out a scream, out of which Ren, horrified, took the handle of his weapon and tried to push it off with no luck.

Horohoro and Chocolove came to the rescue, but when they tried to remove the gripping snake, the snake jolted it's head towards them, forcing them to take a step back. Ren, now noticing that Yoh wasn't trying to help, looked at the other three who were, now, face to face with a huge tiger. Instincts told Ren to help, though he had to help his sister first. But, when he looked at Jun, she pointed towards the tiger.

"Help them first!" and when Ren hesitated. "Go! This thing won't harm me right now, and I'll try to fling it off." And at this the group ran towards the Tiger, creating their old oversouls (A/N: not the elemental spirits they had just obtained).At the end, though, none of it was important as Lyserg's oversoul conquered it with only one attack, leaving Yoh and Sati simply amused. Now to turn attentions back to Jun…

Jun was apparently trying to take the serpent off the top of her hair, Bailong trying to help her with no luck. Ren, the first to rush to his sisters side, now took used full force on the scaled being, and pushed the handle straight on top of Jun's head pushing the snake off. It fell off easily at this point, and Jun sighed in relief. Smirking, Ren turned around confidently, commanding the rest.

"Come on let's move. We already wasted too much time here."

At this the group moved forward, Jun lagging behind as she was trying to look where the snake had gone, since she hadn't caught sight of it after it fell off her head. The group slowed their steps now, taking notice of the environment around them, eased with the return of the simple _caw_ from the birds in the green flora. Opacho, tired of riding on the back of Chocolove, pushed herself down from his back, and rushed towards a tree before anyone could object.

"Opacho!" Chocolove ran protectively towards her. When he reached her he noticed what she had found. Above their heads was a coconut palm tree. Chocolove although amused at how such a climate could have coconut trees, instinctively knew what Opacho was getting at. He quickly climbed upwards with an amazing speed and was already three-fourths to the top before the rest of them could see what was going on. Jokingly, he threw a coconut at the poor unsuspecting Horohoro.

"HEYYY!" Horohoro yelled, now grabbing the attention of the others who were still marching forward. Horohoro first glared feriously at the smiling Chocolove who was wound around the trunk of the tree.

"Look what I hit you with, will you!"

At this Horohoro glanced at the coconut, and as Chocolove had predicted, almost entirely forgotten about the culprit who had through the rock-like fruit at him. His hunger taking over, Horohoro took the coconut and smashed it against a large boulder, opening it in half. The first half he gave to the small Opacho was sitting under tree, and the other he began eating himself.

"Hey! Pass some to the rest of us will you!" Ren barked, with which he was met with a rain of coconuts. After throwing down a good 10 coconuts, Chocolove climbed back down, and helped break them open. At this new source of food, the group ate peacefully, satisfying their hunger, chatting about the weird plants around them, and giving them energy enough to keep moving towards their goal. Grabbing whatever was left over, they headed off. Opacho, after insisting to keep one whole coconut to herself, waddled alongside Lyserg who smiled at her small body holding something so very large in comparison. Faust smiled at everyone.

Walking closely together for another five minutes, they noted that the light was returning once again, and quickened their steps towards what they figured would be the next Patch fight. _Whoever it is, we are going to be ready for them. _Ren thought to himself, though he himself was tired from all the walking and fights they had currently had. Finally, after another two minutes, the warriors found themselves amidst an open area, littered with trees, but not as many as before. But surprisingly enough, instead of meeting with a new Patch member, they once again met with a strange phenomenon.

"The door…"

"is open?" Ren finished Lyserg's sentence.

The patch they were expecting was non existent, and the door was open to them as free passage.

"I don't understand… aren't all the doors guarded by a Patch member. All of the Patch members we have fought were in a plant."

"Maybe they just took a break" Yoh joked with Ren, who in turn just hit him over the head.

"Don't be stupid Yoh." the annoyed Chinese boy said.

"Well it only makes sense if no one is here, plus the door in the front was open too, remember?"

"That's true, but there must be a better explanation."

"Hmm perhaps, but why don't was just go then. Obviously it's open for us."

"Has it ever crossed your mind that this might be a trap? In actuality does anything really cross your mind?"

"Hehe, stop joking Ren."

"I'm not joking…"

As Ren bickered with the Asakura who was obviously having fun, Jun now saw the leaves behind them moving. At first it seemed like the simple wind, but she narrowed her eyes for a better perception. _It seems like some sort of animal. It's obviously camouflaged. Bailong and I are ready to take whatever it is. Maybe it's that snake from before…_but as soon as the thought had crossed her mind, everything stopped moving. Jun, concerned, shifted her view, and noticed that even Sati seemed to be scouting the terrain behind them. _She must have seen it too..._

Then, abruptly, Jun saw it once more, the leaves were moving again, and Sati's head snapped to the disturbance. It was no longer behind them, but right in front of…

"REN!" Jun tried to warn, running towards the confused boy while Bailong scampered after her. But, at the end, this did not amount to anything as the strike came at lightning speed. Suddenly the same serpent that had nestled into Jun's hair had assaulted its' own symbiotic partner.

"Nee-san!" Ren yelled, as Jun now lay behind Ren, Knowing that Ren could not have moved in time, Jun had pushed Ren to the ground, while the poisonous fangs dug into her own slender ankle. In seconds she screamed in pain and plunged towards the floor, holding the new formed tears in her eyes.

"Move." The Faust commanded, immediately pushing himself through. "Ren come here, you need to put your mouth to this wound and suck out the blood. The poison hasn't gotten into the main bloodstream yet." The dead doctor said, pulling Jun's leg towards him, leaving Bailong to cradle Jun's head, and pointed Ren towards the wound. Ren did as told, occasionally spitting out the accumulation in his mouth onto the flourishing grass. Bailong's tears dripped on top of Jun's face, who smiled back and tried to wipe them away.

"Okay. That should be fine. But she can't move from here. The venom from that snake is not that poisonous, so whatever is left in her blood stream shouldn't kill her. But she needs to be watched over carefully."

"Move her closer to the door, else another creature…" at this Sati flung a sharp rock at a bunch of leaves, out of which the snake slithered away, "do anymore harm." The group carried her to the door and set her down to the right.

"I should stay and watch over her." Ren said.

"Don't be stupid, we can come back to her later, you all are wasting more time, by now the Shaman King ceremony might have even ended." Sati countered.

"All you care about is your agenda! She's my SISTER!" fired Ren.

"Your sister or the world?"

"I'll stay. She needs to be watched over by a real doctor, and Bailong will help me." At this Bailong smiled through his never ending tears. "You have Sati if anyone dies."

"Please take care of her." The Chinese boy said.

"Yes. Now go." At this, everyone nodded, and the remaining group; Chocolove, Lyserg, Yoh, Ren, Opacho, Horohoro and Sati, headed towards the last four plants.

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_Author's Notes:_

_Is it wrong to enjoy killing off characters? Hehe… Do you guys want me to link the pictures of the Elemental Spirits for reference?_


	8. CAVE

_I sometimes think I have incredibly bad luck. I promised this chapter right after the last, but that very day my brother crashed my laptop and lost it. Not wanting to lose all that work, I waited for it to get fixed, and finally 3 months later it was back up. And here I am finishing off this chapter. It's time we get to the main Hao fight, I myself am tired of the PATCH. But I'll just publish this cave thing first, and then the rest after finals. God knows, I can never keep to my own promises. Plus, people get intimidated by long chapters don't they? Hey I promise a nice Anna Hao thing after these PATCH fights. XD._

**The Plant of the Cave**

Once again, the team stumbled upon a dusty pathway. Now somewhat revitalized after eating something, they quickened their steps up the dangerous slopes towards the next unknown door. Unlike last time, they faced no opposition, and soon found themselves in front of the same metallic entrance that they had seen six times before. As if reading their minds, the door slowly opened, inviting the unknowing victims in with a menacing smile. Taking the bait, the assembly walked inside, only to find themselves in a far worse and different enemy than they had expected: the darkness. The door suddenly slammed shut behind them, the only thing they audible thing was their heavy breathing.

"It's so dark. Opacho misses Hao-Sama." The little girl stuttered forward, stopping herself from running back.

"What is this pla… AHHHHHH" Chocolove's scream ran out, meeting with a huge _BOOM_. Freshly created dust could be smelt around the room.

"Are you okay Chocolove!" Horohoro's serious voice echoed, as he held out his hands hoping to grasp something within the dark abyss. "Chocolove!" Taking a few steps forward, he heard what was, most definitely, Chocolove's voice.

"Ow! Get off my fingers Horo!"

"Fingers?" Horohoro fell back and gripped what he stepped on. Now somewhat understanding the situation, he pulled the hanging Chocolove up to his feet by his small fingers.

"Thanks. That was really close. Last time I lead." Chocolove tried to feel his way towards Horohoro's shoulder.

"Be careful. It seems like this place is full of ledges" Sati inserted, after which she heard a subtle "you think?" from an annoyed Chocolove.

"Does anyone have a match?" Yoh innocently remarked.

"If we had a match, don't you think we would have lit it?" Ren's voice resounded, from what seemed to be very far away.

"Heh. Wait a minute." Lyserg answered. "Here Opacho take this coconut." In an instant, Lyserg lit a fire between his fingers, brightening the room. Opacho's eyes began adjusting to the light as she held the heavy fruit in her arms, softly tossing it to gain a better grip.

Now able to see fairly well, everyone began to take in the environment around them. The place they were standing in was most definitely…

"A CAVE! So this is the Plant of the Cave!" Chocolove screamed out, dusting off his shirt. A small _crack_ echoed throughout the room.

"It's so…" Horohoro began.

"Beautiful." Finished Lyserg, shielding his eyes with his lady-like fingers.

Yoh and Sati, in particular, seemed to be speechless. The cave was not like anything they had ever seen, every wall glittered with jewels. Within the small light that was provided, reflections of blue, red, green, yellow and white danced the tango upon its' walls, blinding their eyes and lighting their souls. However, this beauty was certainly deceiving as the whole area was a series of cliffs whose drop most certainly would lead any unlucky being pivoting to their doom. It was at this thought Chocolove gulped, swallowing whatever dry saliva was left down his throat.

"This place must be worth a fortune." Horohoro whispered, walking to kick a pebble down in the black hole below. "But it sure is dangerous."

"Yes. Just look above you." Ren pointed to the roof of the cave. There, sharp edges of V-shaped rocks were wedged in such a way that they could succumb in a matter of seconds.

"OH MY G…!" Suddenly Yoh covered Horohoro's wide opened mouth, as Horohoro tried to push him off.

"Look." He pointed behind Chocolove, who glanced behind himself and jumped back in fright. Behind Chocolove lay a huge pile of stone, and it was easy to guess where it had come from. Chocolove's scream had brought the rock from above crashing down just a few paces in front, explaining the earlier _BOOM_ they had heard. If he took just three paces forward, he would be dining with Ryu in the spiritual realm.

"Hmm, this took longer than I expected. Though I am quite surprised you came here, I was certain that Silva would have won, especially given his advantage." A voice mocked. Turning towards the resonating words, Yoh and the others rotated to gaze at the culprit. Yoh's eyes lit on fire as he gazed upon the Patch that was in front of him.

"Lenin." Yoh instinctively pronounced. Amidamaru floating beside him, expecting a new fight to follow.

"Yoh, you seem to be in good condition. I thought you would have certainly died at the hands of Silva in the Plant of the Forest."

"Plant of the forest?" Chocolove questioned.

"Well," Lenin glanced, "That is where you came from is it not?"

"The Plant of the Forest was empty. The doors were open when we entered. So we don't know what the hell you are talking about." Ren butted in, his eyes laughing at the Patch member.

"Ridiculous" Lenin mused. "The plant doors don't open unless the guardian Patch wills them to. You have to defeat them to open the doors."

"I don't understand…" Ren muttered. Yoh kept quiet, his countenance transforming into one of thoughtfulness. Ren noticed. _Why is Yoh acting so weird..._

"Silva? Wait. I hope you aren't saying that Silva was the Patch who was guarding the Plant of the Forest. On the path, we had already kill…" Horohoro gasped as he finally understood. "WHAT! Wh… Wh…Why did Silva do that! He would have had a great advantage in the forest, his whole oversoul was made of animals. Why didn't he take us on in the plant?"

Silence.

"It must have been an unconscious way of him to letting you pass, which only means that the brainwash didn't work properly." Sati remarked.

"_Heh_, it doesn't matter. I guess were let off easily. The next time I'm asked to brainwash someone, I'll do it correctly." Lenin smirked. "In either case, you have to defeat me to now to pass. Silva is something I don't want to spend too much time thinking about." The Patch now jumped down from the small ledge he was balancing on, landing on the narrow chocolate brown pathway. Dust drifted in between the soles of his sandals.

At this, Chocolove moved forward. "Let me take care of this guy. Anyways, it's time I see what I can do." Not allowing anyone to object, the SOW instantaneously appeared beside him, shining brightly for a moment, only to integrate as a new armor oversoul, into the medium of his vest (or shirt). Mic and Pascal Avaf were not to be used during this fight, Chocolove decided. The armor oversoul took on an angled appearance, spreading out like plane flaps, crossing Chocolove halfway down his chest, and extending downwards until his groin, giving it a shape. The "wings" themselves seemed to have three layers, one a thin bent metallic color facing downwards only to enclose the second which could barely be seen under over the first that connected the bottom. His shaft was now part of his armor oversoul, as it was connected by a cord of some sort to it.

(A/N: After much thought I thought, at this point, I really don't care about what the SOW armor oversoul looks like lol. As long as its there and can attack. )

"As you say." With this Lenin snapped his fingers, propelling himself into the air.

"He can… fly too?" Chocolove thought out loud, as Lenin magically swooped through the cave, aiming straight towards his head. But as he got nearer, Chocolove could now see what it was that propelled him. Within the last seconds he dodged to the side, grabbing his shaft and pulling out. But, as luck would have it, instead of landing on the thin path, Chocolove once again found himself hanging off the rim of ledge, his shaft in his hands. Trying to pull himself up, he threw his leg on top of the path and almost rolled himself up, landing on his back painfully as the armor oversoul which had temporarily shrunk, grew back its former wings. In seconds he was faced with an even more dangerous weapon; falling rocks from above. Thinking quickly, Chocolove pushed his hand forward, finding it unusually light despite the oversoul, and one second later, Chocolove flew to the side with tremendous speed.

"Bason. Was it just me, or did he just transport himself to the other side without moving." Amidamaru whispered to Bason.

"No… it's not that he transported… but I believe that he moved too fast for our eyes to perceive." At this, Amidamaru nodded in astonishment, and caught a glimpse of Lenin who had a mixed look of surprise and fear playing upon his face.

"HAH!" Chocolove yelled, now hovering over the dark pit below. Although Chocolove himself had used an OVERSOUL in similar ways, this was a totally different feeling. The spirit itself emanated definite power, and his foryoku did not seem to drain at all. Chocolove, although wanting to question Sati about this, knew that at the moment he must focus on his opponent. At this, he leaned back slightly and in a matter of seconds his feet found their grip on the side of the wall. Using this as a base, he pushed off, heading straight towards Lenin. A/N: Anyone ever play air hockey?

Suddenly everything was black.

"Ahhh! Lyserg what happened!" Horohoro yelled, stumbling towards the boy as he remembered him standing.

"Wait… hold on." And suddenly the room was lit again, as Lyserg had the fire in his hands. Looking above, everyone saw him. Chocolove was floating above the earth path, his hand holding what looked like two long flimsy knives. Wondering where he had conceived these new contraptions, Horohoro, as lost as his companions, looked at Chocolove closely, hoping for a hint. Instead of a confirmation from the bewildered Chocolove, he noticed the second flaps of his winged oversoul was now missing. _So that was why…_

_Where did he go?_ Chocolove thought, and turned, rotating himself in mid air while searching for a sign of Lenin. After the sudden black out, his surprise made him lose track of the enemy. Suddenly he _felt_ him.

ABOVE!

Chocolove slid to the side, as Lenin launched himself from the top down towards him with a blade-like weapon. Now, it was obvious, as Lenin's thin black wings flapped, it became obvious what his O.S. was.

"B…Bats?" Horohoro cringed. That was one animal he hated to be around. Lenin's wings were just like those of a bats, and not just one bat, but he could make out all the bats that were stuck in different mediums around his body. The closest Horohoro had ever come to a bat was reading the DC comics, and he was now grateful he did not have to fight Lenin, but at the same time fearful for Chocolove.

"Hmm… that's funny, that your oversoul is made up of rodents." Chocolove commented. Instinctively he took, what had looked like blades to Horohoro, and bent them throwing them criss-cross aspiring towards Lenin. Lyserg's light went out and then on again as the smooth sound of the blades were heard as they went flying past Lenin. He had barely dodged them as he stepped towards the side, smiling at Chocolove's attempted surprise attack.

_Cleeeeeeeeee_

_What?_ Before he knew it the blades returned, slicing Lenin through the side, blood delicately gushing out. For a second, temporary darkness ensued once more until the light came back.

"Wow…" Horohoro uttered.

"I call it 'WINGED BOOMERANG'" Chocolove said, now smiling at Horohoro.

"You are really bad at names, how corny." Ren busted their bubble, as Lenin struggled to his feet. Clinging to his side, he stepped back.

"Give up now, there is no comparison between bats and elemental god spirits" Chocolove assured him, ignoring Ren's comment. "Let's just end this."

"Hah. Do you think I'm like Silva? I don't run away from fights." Lenin whispered, now against the path wall and sticking his hand into what looked like a small air shaft.

_What the?_ Before Chocolove could think about it, the room suddenly became cold, and a draft of strong draft of air hit him, blowing out the light and sending shivers down his spine.

"Lyserg, what's wrong" Chocolove could hear in the distance.

"Nothing, the wind is too strong, All I can probably do is a flicker of light, but even that won't work."

"Hmm my ears hurt a bit." a voice complained, most definitely Yoh.

"Arg, there is no use. I don't think with this air it will even be useful trying."

"Try harder."

"I'm TRYING!" he snapped back. Small match-like flickers could be seen.

"_Haha_." Lenin's voice resounded. "Don't bother, the air won't let you. All you'll end up doing is wasting foryoku." Followed by what seemed a louder tone "Chocolove, all you have now is your skills. No eyes as your guide, poor hearing to do the strong pressure of the air, and no friends to save you. It's time to send you to hell."

"Hmph." Chocolove rubbed his ears. "Thanks for the offer, but perhaps you have forgotten, I have already been there." At this he tried to follow the direction in which he had heard Lenin speak, throwing his boomerang, only for it to return to him. He wheeled to the right.

"Haha. You call that hell? Where you met with a spirit to calm your nerves? You haven't yet faced your demons." Another time, Chocolove threw the boomerang in the voice's direction, only to return.

"You and your friends, trying to fight the new Shaman King, Hao, what a pointless task. The funny thing is, though, Chocolove, how you are a part of their group." _Where was he? _

Chocolove sailed to a different side. _Keep him talking Chocolove. _He thought to himself.

"What do you mean?" _Reply._

"Oh you are interested?" _Bingo. _Again, the boomerang returned to his hands. _What is going on, are my ears really that weak from this air pressure?_

"None of them are like you. Imagine their faces Chocolove. They are here in the darkness, the darkness you constantly put out." _Try again. _

"Faces, faces of who, your ghosts?" Chocolove mocked back, trying to hear for the location.

"Not my ghosts. Your ghosts. The faces of those who have not yet rested."

"," Chocolove kept silent, waiting for him to go on so he could target better.

"The faces of those you killed."

Chocolove stopped dead.

"You can't deny it, can you? No matter how much you convince yourself, you know that life played a cruel joke on them. Nothing you can do can bring them back. Nothing you can think, including your attempts to block out or face your past, will ever give them back their lives. Despite what that spirit told you in the underworld, you know this to be true."

"I am over it." Chocolove answered. _I have to concentrate._

"Are you?" Lenin's laugh could be heard. _To the right… no… to the left?_

"You, who only had to face your past, have the nerve to judge others while you yourself know that you were not rightly judged. They died. You lived."

"No…" Chocolove whispered, barely audible to him, but knowing that Lenin probably heard.

"So here you are." Now true satire was heard in Lenin's accent. "Trying to stop Hao-sama from doing what's 'wrong' when you yourself had no one who stopped YOU!" At this point, Lenin took advantage of the situation, and flew past Chocolove in an instant, smashing down on his back before he even comprehended the assault.

"Aarggghh" _No… that's not true…_Chocolove tried to think, but his mind was blurry. He could feel his oversoul weakening. The O.S. saved him from being badly injured, but in that one attack, the foryoku used to reassemble the damage was great. "That's not true." Was all Chocolove could say.

"Do you mean that old man? You know as well as I do that he died. Another death you have on your soul. How many have you killed? How many can you compensate? Do you really believe that savings humankind now will make up for what you have done?"

Another successful surprise attack, Chocolove was weakening. He could feel the side of his oversoul flickering. How much foryoku did he have left, he had to concentrate. He could hear muttering in the background. _He is right._

_I need to be punished as well. _

Now, as fast as lightening he saw HIM upon him. Lenin, gathering Chocolove's curly hair in his hands, pulling his face towards his own. Chocolove could feel the breath upon his lips. "Let me be the judge." His weapon now transformed into a black sword, shining brightly, lighting the room slightly.

"CHOCOLOVE!" his friends yelled. _No. _The sword headed downwards, slashing through the armor oversoul. _I have people to fight for. _Now, it was grazing his body. _I can't die here._

He held it. Held it with all he could, and then pushed the sword. The foryoku that Lenin had destroyed was substantial, but only because Chocolove's resolve was not great, now he had decided to fight.

"WIND TORNADO" A/N; Yes I suck at attacks, I'm sure it would sound better in Japanese

Suddenly, Chocolove pushed his foryoku into the SOW, and a tornado came rushing straight towards the astonished Lenin, tearing at him simultaneously. The air due to the activated air shaft meant nothing.

Lenin was still standing. Chocolove amazed.

"Hah. You think you defeated me. But in reality I defeated you." His knees faltered, staggering back.

"Add me to your list of the dead." Chocolove rushed towards Lenin, but by that time, he had fallen. The room was silent, Lyserg's light flickering, and Lenin disappeared to the depths below.

0-------------------------------------------------------0

Im tired. Am I getting better at writing, or is it just me :P


	9. Final Showdown

_Finally an update! I sat down for a couple hours and battled my way through this. I have started reading a lot more lately as well, so I picked up some "favorite" words of mine. But this chapter covers the rest of the plants up to Hao. Now how cool is that !_

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

The warriors, having made their way past the Plant of the Cave, slowly walked up the sloping dirt path, towards the new plant door. The fighting, walking, and tension had left everyone tired, famished, and speechless. Chocolove especially took quiet steps, his head resting upon his chest, and eyes averted by his thoughts. Only three more plants were left, and with time running out, all of the warriors understood that they needed to reach the throne quickly. Soon enough they were through the next heavy door, face to face with nothing but…

"Water!" Ren managed utter, before the door quickly closed behind them, rendering them breathless.

Everyone was now immersed in what looked like a large aquarium. It was cold, dark, and various signs of life-form could be seen dwelling below their feet. Some they had seen before, but others looked like ancient creatures from dinosaur storybooks. Horohoro dodged to the side, surprised and frightened by the hammerhead shark that had just missed him. Besides the dangerous creatures, there didn't seem to be a way out since it was dark all around them, and they were not able to hold their breath any longer despite the fact that their hands were clamped over their mouths. Chocolove looked incredibly ridiculous, using his right hand to cover his mouth, and left over Opacho's. To make matters worse, they all felt a penetrating pressure upon their ears like never before, making Horohoro, Ren, Yoh, and Lyserg use their other hand to cover one ear. Sati merely smiled, and with a wave of an arm, before the kids panicked with suffocation, they were once again able to breath.

_Huff huff_ "What… they weren't joking when it was called the 'Plant of the Ocean'" Chocolove said, catching his breath.

"The main question is, though, how we are supposed to fight if we can't breath." Ren said as-a-matter of fact.

"Don't worry about that too much." Yoh smiled, looking up and propelling himself towards Sati.

"Yes. I also saw it. Sati merely manipulated the water and created a bubble of oxygen around us. I think I can do that as well, especially with the Spirit of Fire." Lyserg said, pushing his hand through the sheer transparency of the air bubble that had now formed around them. Although the water was outside, in the small area surrounding the remaining group, there was a lot of empty air which caused their clothes to flair upwards, especially Sati whose flowing skirt seemed to be in ten different places at once.

"Well, then we will leave this fight to you. But the question is where is the Patch?" Ren began….

"Welcome to the Plant of the Ocean" suddenly the Patch had materialized inside their very air bubble, his arms crossed across his chest. "I would have never expected you to come this far, but I'm also amazed how fast you were able to use the environment around you to survive." He stated, looking with glazed eyes at Sati, who merely narrowed her small eyes. Of course you all know me…"

"Makuna" Ren simply said. He remembered Makuna from the ordeal with Niklom, the head culprit who sent Ren to his death the first time around, with the spear in his chest. Facing him brought back a variety of emotions from that time period, mostly about Chrom. Ren had faced his fears and regrets though, and this was not what bothered him. It would only mean one thing…

"Let's stop talking…" Lyserg inserted, peeling off his right sock only to leave himself completely stripped except for his boxers, weapon, and cape. Now, with the Spirit of Fire materialized beside him, he created an armor oversoul using morphine and Zeruel. "…and begin!" suddenly Lyserg shot past with lightning speed straight towards the Patch who simply thrust himself back.

Everyone stood in awe as both opponents faced each other in the water. Makuna's oversoul was obvious now, he had an animal oversoul as well, and his was the spirit of the shark. It's jaws could be seen in his saw like blade which he held out against Lyserg in a fighter stance. Lyserg, on the other hand, had a complete armor oversoul along with an air bubble created around himself. He had obviously used air as the Spirit of Fire's medium to create breathing space around himself as well.

"You think you will be able to fight like that? Your foryoku is draining much faster under water here you know. I'm sure you realize this." at this Makuna edged towards Lyserg missing him by a thread. The sparring went on for quite a while as both threw attacks at one another. Lyserg propelling upwards, Makuna's thrusts downwards, while at other times Lyserg slicing through everything as Makuna dodged in very little room. Makuna himself tried to sing the Patch song only to be interrupted by Lyserg before he finished. At this point both fighters were drained and only stared at each other. The next attack was to be the last.

"I underestimated you" Makuna grimaced.

"Hmph. So did I."

"Well I guess nothing is to be had from standing here and staring at each other."

"Quite so."

In an instant both glided past each other, faces blank at either side. But before the onlookers could question who had won, Makuna's chest was torn open and he drifted silently towards the bottom floor. The pressure within the water had obviously torn the wounds more than necessary as well. Lyserg, in turn, quietly swam back to the group in the nick of time before the exit showed itself on the bottom of the ocean floor. It slid open, letting water drained out below, and leaving everyone standing on the bottom of the plant. Horohoro walked to the door, and discovering a ladder on the side, started the climb down with everyone afterwards. The ladder was surprisingly long, making it take some time before they reached the ground.

Once again, they found themselves on the familiar dirt path in Mu. However, unlike last time, they didn't have to walk some ways before discovering the entrance to the next plant. This time, it loomed above them in a frightening fashion. Resting straight above their heads on a small ledge, the warriors started the rock climb. It was not as easy as they had thought.

"Hey Ren! That was the rock I was going to hang onto next."

"Why you!"

"It's not my fault you are slower than a turtle."

"Lyserg, you stepped on my hand! Ow!"

"Hmm, Sati is it a good idea for you to climb with a skirt?"

"hmph…"

"Woah this is high up. I wonder why they put a door way up there. I feel like I'm in the Olympics here."

"Woops sorry Horohoro, I just didn't see you there."

"The Olympics don't have rock climbing as a sport."

"Yes they do!"

"Hey what a pretty drawing…"

"Nope."  
"Yoh, should you be gawking at drawings at a time like this?"

"Yes!"

"But look Ren, I think it's little people, and they are crying."

"Uh…"

"I think I got rock particles up my nose."

"So. I have seen people cry."

"WOOT I MADE IT FIRST!"

Chocolove managed to work his way up first after Sati, and the rest of the warriors enclosed on them quickly. Within a moments time the door flew upwards, and even before stepping inside, everyone huddled together with the exception of Horohoro and Sati. In front of them was a beautiful white snowy mountainous area, with jutting ice crystals in different places. An aurora could also be seen in the background, its dancing colors refracting through the icicles. Yoh sat himself down on the floor as Chocolove and Lyserg huddled near him, obviously trying to keep body heat. Opacho wobbled and dug a small hole, but before they questioned what she was trying to do, she found some measly sticks that she brought back. Lyserg, taking the cue, lit them on fire.

"It sure is beautiful… though not at all comparable to my home." Horohoro whispered, glancing back at the others who lived in substantially warmer localities.

"I will be surprised if we don't catch a cold with all these weather changes. I can still feel the desert heat on me from Namari…" Yoh threw carelessly after warming himself a bit. Opacho had seated herself in Yoh's lap, resting her little head upon his arm.

Ren rolled his eyes. "I think a cold is the least of our worries."

"I am surprised none of you have ever questioned these plants' origins yet." Sati said out of nowhere.

"Origins?" Chocolove turned his head sideways to glance as Sati with a questioning face.

"Hey Lyserg can you increase the fire? I wonder where the Patch is, they seem to like surprising us now days."

But before anything else could be said, the next opponent had appeared and greeted them. Ren, breathing heavily, looked him in the eye as the Patch smirked.

"Why Ren, you look rather cold. I hope this climate is not too much for you. I of course was looking forward to fighting with you. But not only is your foryoku level low, but so is the temperature."

"Still talking nonsense I see, Niklom." Ren stood, breathing into his hands.

"Hmph. In either case it doesn't make a difference."

"Here Ren, you can use my jacket." Horohoro offered.

"I don't need it." Ren said, embarrassed at Horohoro's affection in front of the enemy.

"Haha Ren, you should take it." Niklom put in.

"Right now, I have one goal, and that is to get to the throne. Stand aside Niklom."

"Stand aside? Is that what you tell all your opponents, or do you think you have the right to pity me?"

"…."

"I must say Ren, I should actually thank you for killing my brother." Niklom smiled. At this, Sati and Yoh turned their heads and focused seriously on the Patch's face. "It made me grow up faster, and without living under my brothers' shadow I was able to advance quickly. There is a reason why I am the last patch before UNIVERSE. I am the strongest of them. I became stronger to surpass my idiotic brother who got himself killed. And also…"

Before Ren could blink Niklom was in front of him. As his eyes closed for a millisecond, he felt the thrust of Niklom's blade upon him, and when he opened them again, he lay against the hard thickness of a boulder made entirely of red ice. Red, from his own blood that smothered against it.

"ugh." One of Ren's eyes remained open as he stared at Niklom, clutching his bloody arm.

"….also so I would have the chance to kill you for good." Niklom hissed.

Already everything was getting blurry to Ren. The cold air was not helping, though he found himself relieved since the blood did not flow from his wound as fast as it would have in normal conditions. Shivering, he hoisted himself up using the boulder, and with knees bent, stood to face his opponent once more. Gritting his teeth, Ren released the Spirit of Thunder to create a small armor oversoul around himself. The armor oversoul wasn't very fancy, however, but with Bason in his spear and armor oversoul, Ren knew he could beat Niklom but he would have to do it quickly and use all his foryoku to concentrate on one final blow. Until then, all he could do was simply dodge until an opening presented itself. Most of his foryoku at the moment was going to maintaining his armor oversoul.

"Pfft. Even with an elemental spirit, you should know as well as anybody Ren—a spirit simply won't give you a winning chance. I really want to finish this fast." Niklom once again rushed towards Ren, "See how you like this Ren… 'Mammoth Horn!'" Suddenly, Niklom released a monsterous attack, horns flying at Ren in every direction possible, there was no possible way to dodge it. Ren flew to the side, rolling over to the right and doing a small flip to the left, landing perfectly on another icicle, his feet gripping the ice as much as possible. Even so, this maneuver did not exempt him from being grazed by the attack, his shoulder was now sliced open.

_My left arm is obviously useless now. It's a good thing for this plant. The weather is numbing the pain and stopping the blood flow. Even if I die…NO! I can't die. Ren what are you thinking? Dying is not an option, we can't waste anymore foryoku on purification. I have to do this myself, and do it fast. _

"Hmm what are you thinking, Ren? When I'm done with you, your body will be so mangled they couldn't revive you even if they wanted to." Niklom's oversoul now was enormous. Glaring down from a good 4 meters above his head, a large elephant like oversoul was seen; hairy, brown, and powerful. Ren couldn't himself shuddering from the size of it. _How can I defeat this thing, there must be something…_

"It's… a hairy elephant!" Chocolove pointed, his eyes wide with excitement.

"No. not an elephant, a mammoth." Horohoro sighed.

"I know Ren is powerful, but against that, even I might lose."

"I think it would take all of us to defeat that thing."

"Yah…"

"Not really, we should trust Ren, and not get involved. This is between him and Niklom. It is a deeper issue than just power levels." Yoh chimed in.

"I think in this case Yoh might be right. Though I don't think it will help any if you ask me." Lyserg replied.

"Hmm…" Yoh smiled, focusing once more at the tiny Ren face which was tilted upwards.

"Hmph. As you can see, you can't defeat me, whether you concentrate your foryoku or not." Niklom cried. _Now I will make you suffer, suffer as you made me suffer._

"Maybe not. But at the end of this fight the only one who will lose will be… YOU!" Ren jumped up, trying to slash Niklom on the top of his foryuki, only to receive a giant hit on the side of head, making him reel towards the other side of the plant. Crashing violently in the ground, Ren could barely feel his fingers. _This is going quicker than I thought. _Ren pulled himself up only to kneel on the floor. _He's right, there is no way I can defeat him like this. I must have some other card to play. What would a TAO do in a time like this…_

"What are you thinking about? Life after death? Get up. It's time to meet your end." Niklom jeered.

FLASHBACK------

"_Hey brother where are you going? I thought you were going to play with me?" a little child with flowing black hair screamed, running towards the larger man who was grabbing his head band._

"_Oh Niklom, shouldn't you be in bed right now?"_

"_Bed! I'm not 10 anymore! I'm 11 years old! Mom said I could stay up until 11pm now." _

"_Well I was summoned by Goldva. You know we have to prepare for the Shaman Fight."_

"_But that's so far away!"_

"_Well, not everything happens in one day, little one." The older brother Chrom rubbed his siblings' head._

"_Oh alright. Will you be back soon? I wanted to show you this trick dad taught me."_

"_Don't worry I'll be back! I just have to run a few errands with Silva."_

"_GAWDD Silva again! Brother can't he do anything himself!" at this, Chrom laughed, and sighed._

"_Haha… anyways I'll be back later okay?"_

"_Okay. But afterwards we should play together."_

"_Sure thing."_

"_Don't bring Silva."_

"_haha. Don't worry about that, I think he was invited somewhere for lunch."_

"_Ohh where?"_

"_I can't remember. Anyways I better go now. Goldva is very punctual, and there is still a lot to do."_

"_I love you!"_

"_Heh. Love you too. Go to bed, you look tired, 11 years old or not!" Chrom opened the door and left. The little boy rushed to the side window, admiring his role model walking down the street._

END OF FLASHBACK----

A slash came down upon Ren, on the same shoulder that was injured before. A scream could be heard echoing throughout the plant.

"Heh." Niklom sneered, rubbing the splashed blood from his hands. His oversoul suddenly shrank to a small size and then disappeared within a thin stick. "Obviously this is too much for you Ren. I was thinking of killing you immediately, but perhaps it would be better to torture you physically." Niklom kicked Ren's arm, only to receive a defiant look from Ren, who had managed to hold back all the tears during his pain. He wasn't able to feel his feet anymore.

"It is really disappointing, the way you act."

"Hmph." Ren murmured through his teeth. "You should be the one to talk -- a spoiled brat who can't deal with his brother's death."

"Hah! You still think this is about that! My brother was a fool! Don't flatter yourself. I don't hold grudges."

"Sure, whatever you say." Niklom's eyes flashed fire.

"Hao-sama is the Shaman King, it is a Patch's duty to protect him."

"A sense of duty? My ass. You are just a baby who doesn't know what he want, following whatever powerful person you see. You're pitiful." Niklom, hearing this, was now bent upon killing him here and now. However, when he went to raise his arm, he couldn't move.

"Hmph? Having trouble I see?" Niklom looked down. Ren's armor oversoul had disappeared, and it was immediately apparent what happened. Ren had liquefied the ice below Niklom slightly, and oversouled the SOT with the small drops of water itself, using the thunder-like properties to hold him there by aligning the charges properly. Ren reached out and took Niklom's thin weapon and threw it aside, with his spirit trapped within it.

"So is this how you killed him, by using cowardly surprising attacks? You know you can't pass through the door by just locking me here. Only I can open the door, and I won't do it for you until you kill me."

"I am not going to kill you."

"What, getting cold feet now you murderer?"

Everyone gasped suddenly, as Ren did the most unexpected thing. With his spear, he reached out, Niklom closing his eyes to make way for the attack. _I'm joining you now brother._ Suddenly Niklom was overcome with warmth, and opening his eyes he did not find warm blood as he expected, but instead…

"Ren…" Chocolove sighed, smiling to himself.

Ren now embraced Niklom, and as the boy looked at him in wander, he pulled back to say what he had always wanted to say properly. "I'm sorry Niklom. Nothing could bring your brother back. I was the one who took him away from you, and Hao had nothing to do with this. However, we can't allow him to roam free. Killing people is something no one has the right to do, be it me, or Hao." Tears began to fall from Niklom's face.

"_Hey brother! What do you think the new Shaman King will be like!"_

"_I don't know. But whoever he is, will have respect for all kinds of life forms."_

"_You mean like beetles?"_

"_haha. Well beetles are living things, but everything else as well, from leaves to animals to humans, everything has a life—a will to live. We are all trying to live the way we know best."_

"_Even this pencil?"_

"_Hahaha!"_

"_Hey brother, will the Shaman King be nice, even if I am a bad boy?"_

"_Heh. I'm sure he will be…"_

The door across the plant opened, just as the group got up. Yoh now took the duty of carrying Opacho, who had once again fallen asleep. It was, after all, a pretty long day. Ren, rubbing Niklom's fallen head, and returning his weapon to him, walked out of the door.

As the door shut behind him, Yoh was the first one to say anything.

"Well I must say, today was quite an eventful day, I wonder what Anna would say about this." At this, everyone dropped with relieved tension.

"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!" Ren screamed

"Haha!"

"Well we only have one last plant left, though I must say we were pretty lucky throughout the other times." Lyserg stated.

"In either case, this path in front of us seems to be getting much more dangerous." Sati whispered, looking forward.

As everyone focused their eyes forward, their faces dropped. The path was broken, and it looked like they would have to jump to different rocks in order to get across. Jumping from one to the other, Chocolove's face full of horror that made even Sati smile, they reached the other side. On top of the ledge they finally reached the last plant door. UNIVERSE. Taking a big breath in, they stepped inside, as it opened.

Nothing could prepare them for what they saw next. The entire plant made them feel like they were in space. The mechanics of the place were amazing as they saw small rotating planets, stars shooting across what felt like the ceiling, and much more. But as astonished as they were, they couldn't be prepared for the small PATCH inside.

"OH MY GOD! Horohoro look, LOOK!" Chocolove forgot all decency and shook his pointed hand at the small alien in front of him.

"Woahhh I didn't even know Alien's existed! Are Patch related to Aliens I wonder!" Horohoro seemed as excited as Chocolove.

"You really are an idiot." Ren looked downwards. "He's not an alien. That's his oversoul."

"Oversoul! Wow! But damn, how do you get the spirit of an alien." Horohoro said.

"Obviously from where alien's live…" Lyserg confidently interrupted. At this everyone was astonished at the simplicity of the answer, and a unanimous monotone "Lyserg…" could be heard.

"Hmm. You all seem to have taken a long time to get here, though I must say it was understandable." The small extraterrestrial inserted. His voice was calm and tranquil.

"So you are a Patch?" Yoh questioned.

"Yes."

"And your oversoul is an alien."

"It indeed looks that way."

"But…"

"Obviously I see a question in your eyes. But the history of Mu is a complicated one, and the question of aliens or extraterrestrials as you call them is quite a complicated as well . It is not my duty to tell you any of it, and I have no need to. You have trespassed on the domain of the Shaman King, and I will not allow you to pass any further. You either leave or I will kill you."

"Wow he sure is straight-forward." Chocolove uttered.

"Where is Hao-Sama?" Opacho suddenly jumped down from Yoh, and approached the alien.

"Our king is in the midst of the ceremony. He cannot be disturbed. You are a friend of his? Oh- I see you have the same power of Reishi as well."

"Yes. Who are you?"

"I am Rutherfor."

"I want to see Hao-Sama."

"You may wait for him, but not here. I cannot allow anyone to enter the throne room." At this Opacho stomped her small feet and wobbled to a corner of a room where she seated herself, her arms crossed across her chest.

Now turning back towards the warriors, Rutherfor turned to his side, and held out his grey finger behind him. "As I said before, I advise you to leave, or else you will meet the same fate as them."

Yoh squinted at the bodies in front of him. One was small, the other larger and well formed. Suddenly, he recognized the smaller one; the outfit, the small dictionary at his side. "MANTA!" Yoh broke into a sprint behind Rutherfor. "Manta wake up!" he cried, tears forming in his eyes as he held the small boys' head in his arms.

"Urg…" he stirred.

"Manta, are you okay!"

"Yoh! I'm glad you made it here… but…" tears flowed down the boy's already tear-stricken face. "But Anna…" his voice slowed down… "Anna… she… she's dead!" Yoh's face took on a ghastly white.

"Anna? How did Anna get here!"

"I can't explain… Yoh…you must watch out. He… " pointing towards Rutherfor. "he is really dangerous!"

"Manta, Manta!" Yoh shook Manta in hopes to take him out of his delirious state. "Manta, where is Anna? And, is… is this Anahol?" he stuttered.

"Yah. That's Anahol. You can't tell? Well, Rutherfor mangled him badly. He tried to protect me Yoh!" Manta's lip shivered. "I always need protection… I can't… I feel so tired Yoh" his voice barely above a whisper…

"But Anna… where is … where is her body?" Yoh's eyes gleamed.

"She's dead…" Manta said.

"Yes, but Manta, please…" tears trickled on Manta's face.

"She…." His voice barely heard… "she…" Manta couldn't finish his sentence though, as he fainted straight into Yoh's arms. His fingers dangling atop Yoh's elbow.

"Manta…" Yoh laid his head on the bottom of the floor, and turned his head sideways with a killer glare.

"Rutherfor you have gone too far!"

"He's not dead. Just exhausted probably. I have nothing against humans, they are such meek creatures. Though I cannot say the same thing about that girl and 'Anahol' as you call him"

"Why you!" Yoh rushed forward, only to be caught by Lyserg.

"Yoh, calm down, we can't let emotions get away with us. Anahol was pretty strong, and so was Anna…. and if he defeated them…"

"Anna isn't DEAD!" Yoh yelled.

"Yoh" Ren walked beside him, resting his hand upon his shoulder. "he's right. We have to think of this calmly, right now, our goal is Hao remember? Act like a leader." Yoh nodded in some understanding.

Before thinking of it any further. Sati seemed to float in front of them.

"In either case, I will be the one to fight him."

"Sati…" Yoh gasped, still composing himself.

"Don't worry" Sati smiled.

"Very well. I had warned you…" Rutherfor rushed forward, "GRAVITY PULL" Suddenly, Sati flew upwards, her dress bellowing below her. Above, the gang could see a large ball forming, and even they could feel the force in the room.

"SATI!" Yoh screamed.

"Hmph. This is ridiculous." Sati commented. "BUDDHA-GIRI!" and suddenly a giant Buddha statue loomed over the hole. Rutherfor, obviously caught off guard with the new development, stared in awe. As quick as the black ball formed, the faster it disappeared. The Buddha clapped it's hands together around it, flattening it like a pancake. Rutherfor's face took on one of utter horror.

"Your foryoku…" sweat dripped from his forehead, "… it's quite high, I'm surprised, it is probably the closest to Hao-sama's."

"Then you would know not to fight with me."

"Guess again. BLACK MATTER!"

Suddenly, everything went black, particles could be seen floating everywhere, and Opacho ran to Yoh and clutched at his pants. Yoh simply patted her on the forehead and picked her up.

"He's scared, Yoh-san…" Opacho whispered.

"Ya… I bet."

"Fufu! Now what will you do?" Rutherfor's voice could be _felt_ in every direction.

"What do you want me to do?" Sati said with ease. "Let's stop playing around."

"As you say…"

**BIG BANG!**

Absolute silence filled the room, everyone shielding their eyes from the blinding light that had suddenly appeared. But, as fast as it had come, the faster it disappeared. Now, once again witness to the amazing room surrounding them, the warriors could see a piece of Sati's dress floating to the side.

"Sati…" Yoh whispered. Even as a whisper, Yoh's voice seemed to echo throughout the room like a megaphone.

"Hmpph. You are better than I thought." Rutherfor now lay kneeling on the floor, eyes glazed. His oversoul was flickering, his face a blur.

_This has to be the strongest Armor oversoul I have seen. To be able to oversoul a spirit with his ENTIRE body is no easy feat… It not only requires a lot of foryoku but great physical strength as well._ Sati was kneeling across from him, half her dress torn from the side, revealing a bare white thigh. _I myself concentrated a lot of foryoku to block that "Big Bang" attack of his. _

Despite both parties being injured, within a couple seconds they were flying towards each other, throwing attacks and blocking them in an orderly fashion, although none of these attacks were nearly as powerful as the ones before them. The amount of foryoku and reiyoku in the room made even Chocolove and Lyserg shudder.

"They are so powerful…." Chocolove said.

"Yah… even if we both combined our foryoku or reiyoku we wouldn't be able to compete… Their spirits are so strong, I can't even imagine their reiyoku."

"It's a good thing we have Sati on our side then…"

"…."

"Thousand Buddha Palms!" Sati shouted, her spirit appearing and many hands appearing out of the air. Suddenly, Rutherfor was surrounded, and before he could say anything, they came crushing down upon him.

Silence.

_Huff huff_. Sati tired herself out, breathing heavily. But, the warriors' eyes were not on hers, but on Rutherfor's. Rutherfor's oversoul was indeed an alien. But, it was tiny and small. The size of a child's hand. _How did he use such a weak soul to create such a massive oversoul? He is able to manipulate it so well... it's amazing. _With his oversoul out though, Rutherfor's true form could be seen. He was just a…

"A child!" Horohoro yelled.

"He must be Redseb's age or so. He's so small." Lyserg said.

"But so strong!"

"In either case, he's not dead. I can see him breathing. Maybe he can tell us more about this place. And I can't seem to find where the throne is. It's so dark here…"

At this, Yoh came by Rutherfor and kneeled beside him, supporting him up. Sati had recovered herself, and now stood beside them.

"Can you please tell us about this place? There is no use of fighting anymore." The child sat up.

"The throne is over there." He pointed upwards. The door was clearly visible now, but in the midst of the stars it was hard to place.

"But how do we get up there?"

"Just use that switch on that corner, and it will deactivate gravity, then you can just go up there."

"What about this place…"

"Mu, as I told our new King, is a place that was invented by its people, replicating nature so that they could live in space, this you saw by the various plants here. But they were still human, technology or not, nothing can compare to the power of nature."

"So they were destroyed by nature."

"Yes. I'm sure you have heard of it. Even humans have it recorded in their history. It was called the ICE AGE. The people of Mu were incredibly greedy humans. As their technology grew, so did their pride. They aimed for very high goals, completely ignoring the simple signs warning them of their ruin. Hence, when the world changed, they noticed too late, and instead of utilizing nature to their benefit, they stole from it. Simply speaking, they took animals and plants into Mu by stealing from the other people in the world. In order to save everything for themselves, they purposely sank their island deep underwater. However, they quickly realized it was not enough. Nothing can replace nature. Shortly afterwards a plague spread through Mu, and the various people who had taken refuge in the plants died. Some of the Mu, however, who realized this error early, escaped above and started a life there. To start a life in that time, however, required a good understanding of nature and this could not be done alone. Nature is made up of life as much as death, and the only way it could be done was to create a relationship with both the living and non-living, every form of life on earth. The people who survived from Mu were those who were able to do this, and became the first shamans. To become a shaman, however, means you have to lower yourself to the idea that nature has as much power over you as you do over it. Hence, only a handful of people became shamans. The people of Mu did teach other humans as well, while others simply caught on, and at the end the only ones who survived were those who were either shamans or appreciated their powers. All around the world the shamans were named differently according to the people in the area, from guru's to gods to many of the various names we still hear of today in mythology or history."

"Wow…" was all anyone could say, and it was said by Chocolove.

"So the Patch…"

"The Patch are descendents of the Mu… Well in actuality so are all of the very powerful shamans. The Mu people were of course, called the Mayans, as western history has recorded them. So… now you know about" Rutherfor pointed to Chocolove "Pascal Avaf." Chocolove stood in awe.

"And these drawings on the wall?" Lyserg asked.

"I'm surprised you noticed. The drawings on the wall are the very history of mankind, and the various calculations and ideas of the people of Mu. It records a history that is not recorded by humans. After all, with the ICE AGE many of the knowledgeable men and women who had known the oral history of man died out. One of the best things the Mu people did was to record it."

"And the Great Spirit…?"

"That is something I do not know. The only one who might would be Goldva. I know whatever history was passed down to me from my family. I am around 2000 years old, and am also an onmyouji. The people of Mu also knew some of the secrets of eternal life, and with my spirit, I can achieve this. He is special and keeps me young as I was when I first got them."

"So this is why the Shaman King is chosen every 500 years?"

"Yes. The Great Spirit has an effect on the physical body as well. It is a different type of oversoul similar to mine which the ceremony allows. In order to create a binding oversoul like I have with my 'alien' spirit, you have to become one with the spirit, foryoku and reiyoku both combined. My family passed down this secret, but only with the alien spirit. But with the Great Spirit the only one who knows of the method is Goldva, though other Patch would attend the ceremony later to honor the Shaman King. The Great Spirit is all knowing, he is the spirit of all of nature…"

"Thank you… it has been a good help." Yoh said, standing up as Rutherfor once again created his oversoul. Horohoro walked to the side of the room and turned on the switch, and all of them lifted off the floor. Lyserg and Ren, taking the advantage, grabbed onto one the planets which headed upwards, Yoh with Sati, simply waited to be carried up, while Horohoro and Chocolove tried to swim their way up, making Opacho laugh on top of Yoh's head.

Finally, they reached the door. Sati, who had Manta in her arms, was the one to push the door open. When they entered, it was the most beautiful sight they had ever seen. There was a luscious garden in front of them, with cracked Marble steps leading upwards. The Great Spirit could be seen in the background, sending shivers down their spines. They were glad that they were strong enough to handle the massive spirit, since the first time they had seen it in Patch village, they had downright fainted. Reaching the base of the stairs, they nodded to one another, Sati merely waving using her rod like a walking stick (A/N: I forgot what the rod was called), and began their ascend.

Walking seemed a lot longer than any of them had hoped, each foot seemed to get heavier with every step. Around them they could hear various sounds from bird cries to the creeping of lizards and insects. Finally, after a good ten minutes, they finally began to reach the top of the dais. Before doing so, they created armor oversouls, expecting to see another Patch, maybe even Goldva, guarding Hao. However, what they saw when they reached was enough to make even Sati's jaw drop.

The throne itself was incredibly simple, but it was definitely made of pure gold, it's colors flashing bright in the midst of the Great Spirit. The surprising thing, though, had nothing to do with the surroundings, throne, or Great Spirit itself. Atop the expensive chair lay two entangled figures. The first one had a beautiful feminine face, with ebony hair draped upon the front of his chest. Red star earrings glittered from his ears, as he was dressed in a beautiful flowing robe of red. The robe had gold lining and silver borders, along with small crystals dangling from the ends, splitting the surrounding white light by splitting the colors like prisms. The second figure had her right leg thrown over the left of the male, and rested sideways, her head snuggled towards the naked chest showing through the red robe. Her blonde hair created a great contrast to his black as strands weaved their way through his. She, however, wearing a beautiful cerulean robe, her right hand dangling over his leg, and the other clutching a black dress. Beads round themselves in her hair, as her face reflected dried up tears. Both figures were sound asleep…

"Hao…" Lyserg said, sneering

"and…" Ren continued.

"A…Anna!" Yoh finally managed to get out.

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Yay! We are finally at the last fight :P Maybe Ill get reviews now, in either case, next chapter is a flashback Anna X Hao moment. So all the cool stuff comes now. I'm sorry to have rushed the fights here, but I myself was getting sick of the fighting and wanted to get to Hao already, so I figured everyone else did too. But hopefully it didn't come off as too hurried or something. Please review if you want more of these chapters, sometimes I wonder if I am wasting my time :P  
**


	10. A Night to Remember

_Yay for the next chapter! Shaman King is not mine, though I wish it was. It is copyright of Hiroyuki Takei, Shueisha/Shonen Jump and all other related companies. I also want to take the time to give thanks to my friend, whose name remains Anonymous (at her request) who helped me in editing this (and adding detail cough)._

The night felt dreary and cold. Snow fell quietly from the sky above, landing upon her head with a feather's touch. Below the hill, despite her racing heart and dizziness due to the violence and complications of that night, she was very much in tuned to the atmosphere around her. It always seemed to repeat itself, the same feeling of anguish and despair, the same movements of the white snowflakes around her, the overwhelming **want** to simply roll up in a ball and end it all... However, there was something different, something that set it apart from everything that had taken place before.

It was HIM--

--clutching his small weapon down below, facing _her_ greatest fear, and probably fueling _his_ own. Before him stood a giant, larger than anything she had seen or created before. The oo-onii. The next few seconds would undoubtly become engraved in her memory forever, whether or not he "won" or "lost" was no longer the deciding factor. Her mind wanted to make it stop, to make her dark demon child disappear on her own before _he_ would have to do anything that would haunt him forever. Or, perhaps, it was just the opposite. Perhaps she wanted to stop it before the event became another maddening event that would be stored with all the rest, within the invisible doors located in her mind. Did it even matter who he was? He was just going to become another victim... NO! "Not another victim" was what her heart told her. As she looked down ahead, she now saw what he truely was, him and his spirit, they were each going to give a piece of themselves for_ her_? The warmth she felt from this sudden realization caught her off guard and it was at that moment that this young boy, no matter what the outcome of this ordeal was, would always stand out in her mind from the _others_.

At that moment, as her mind and body tried to struggle with what was happening, she saw him. "Hyou Gattai" he cried out (A/N: aka 'intergrate') and the small weapon he held in his hand now grew to one so large she wondered how he managed to stay upright with it in his hand. _He would make an amazing shaman_ she thought. He was everything that his grandmother had described him as. Now, she saw him run, for the final attack, aiming towards the creature that had haunted her dreams every night for as long as she could remember. It was at this very moment that that _it_ transformed. Time seemed to stop. The Onii became a herd of humans, women, children, and men intermixed within the crowd. The attack from the boy itself was frozen in mid air. She attempted to run, to stop him before he committed this unforgiveable sin. But, she couldn't move, something was holding her back. Desperate, she looked behind her. _Nothing_. On both sides of her body_. Nothing_. It was then that she could feel a tug at her robe. Eyes dilated with shock and anxiety, she looked. There, he was. The most gorgeous little boy she had seen. Black hair, thick and straight, with eyes just as dark and defining. He stared at her with wide eyes, dried tears upon his cheek.

"Nee-san.." he said. "They killed my mother."

Turning his head, he faced forward, watching intently. She did the same, time resuming once more, the sword seemed to fall as quick as lightning...

* * *

Suddenly, Anna opened her eyes. The same dream again. It seemed to repeat itself, and each time became more detailed and real. This night, however, it troubled her deeply. The boy had finally spoken, and those mere five words had shaken her. Sitting up, Anna looked at her clock. 4 A.M. It was too early to cook breakfast, and it would be a while before she could go back to sleep again. Anna felt a small tingle on her face, and astonished, she touched her face only to find a tear. She never cried before, the thought of a little dream affecting her so emotionally made her angry. In rage, she threw her blankets off and decided to get a drink of water. Fastening her white sleeping robe around her tightly, Anna looked to her side where Tamao slept soundly._ Good thing I didn't wake her_, she sighed. Staying close to the walls, Anna navigated her way through the hallways, her hands crossing each other in reaction to the icy cold air. Before heading her way into the kitehen, Anna took a left turn and opened the sliding door of the boys room. There, all of the boys were asleep, hands and feet thrown in every direction. Horohoro's foot was a little ways from Ren's mouth, and Chocolove was clinging to Horohoro like a Teddy Bear. Anna quietly laughed at their stupidity and noting Yoh's peaceful face, walked into the kitchen on the right. She opened the fridge door, took out a water bottle and grabbed a cup from cupboard, pouring the liquid into it. After finishing, she put the cup beside the sink and realized there was a draft in the room._ One of those idiots must have left a door open._ Annoyed, she followed the cool wind, and nearing the end of the hallway saw light pouring in perpendicularly. Turning towards the light, Anna walked swiftly down the hallway and saw that the sliding door leading to the backyard was open. Anna slowed her pace and went to close it, but could see the shadow of someone sitting there. 

"Hao!" Anna exclaimed, startled by him. Hao, a bit suprised himself, glanced at Anna and smiled seductively.

"Good morning **Anna**." Anna, annoyed by his refusal to call her by her last name, leaned to the side of the sliding door. There was no point of correcting him, since it would have just been a waste of breath, especially this early in the morning. A series of thoughts ran through her head, most of them she answered herself. She had forgotten that the reason he was here was due to the fight with Manta's dad the next morning. Hao had made an excuse like usual, and spent the night. Also, she noted that Opacho was sleeping soundly at his side, so whatever the reason for him waking up early, Anna decided not to brood too much into it. Now, she looked back at Hao. The way he was dressed reminded her of Yoh, though Yoh didn't look as ridiculous as Hao since he carried himself much more decently. With that track suit on and hair in a pony tail, Anna couldn't help but laugh at him. Hao, noticing that this laugh was directed towards him, flashed a face full of annoyance but instantly masked himself with a smile once more. Anna, of course, watched this intently, and kept her mocking smile on her face. Hao then removed the band from his head, letting his dark hair fall upon the ground.

"That's better, don't you think?"  
"Like I would care."  
"Your attitude always did amuse me Anna."  
"I think you need to find other ways of amusing yourself."  
"No, I like this one just fine." Strike one. Anna became incredibly annoyed.  
"In either case..." Anna straightened herself, backing away from the wall "...I'm going to bed. If you want to stay up all night, be my guest, but don't let a draft into this house so everyone can suffer alongside you." finished Anna, and glancing at Opacho added "And, though it might not mean anything to you, cover her up!" Anna marched off.

She was irritated by Hao. He always managed to distress her, and this made her feel like a fool. Passing by the closet, Anna opened the drawer within and took out a thin blanket. Most of the time, Anna was incredibly considerate. She always meant well, but had a habit of putting on a tough cover. Once in a while, it crossed her mind that Hao was similar to her in this tendency. But, as quickly as this thought crossed her mind, she erased it quickly from her memory. This was the same man who literally "fed" his spirit with souls. She had to admit though, that every person had their good points, one of the many lessons she learned from Yoh. Hao had some that she knew of, such as his care for little Opacho. It always astonished her that he could kill other strong partners on his team on a whim, but someone as weak as Opacho was always close by his side. He was a walking contradiction, but she always felt sorry for him. It was this pity that always held her back from slapping him constantly (though she could not resist at least twice). She knew that his weak point, though, did not lie in his mistakes of making friends, but his inability to break a defined child-parent relationship. This was something she hoped Yoh to see in today's fight.

"Here." Anna passed the blanket to Hao, who turned and spread the blanket quietly over Opacho, lifting her in order to tuck it under her. "So what are you doing Anna? I hardly think a draft could wake you." Anna was beginning to think he was using her first name on purpose instead of addressing her properly.   
"I went to get a drink of water, not that it's any of your business."  
"I do wish you wouldn't be so harsh with me Anna... after all, you are going to be my..."  
"I am Yoh's bride." Anna suddenly interjected. He was so predictable.  
"Haha. But I do not concur to that opinion, after all, I will be the Shaman King. I thought you wanted to be queen, or have you changed your mind so quickly? That's not like you Anna." Oh how she loathed the way he pronounced her name, with such care that anyone would have thought she was his.  
"I will be Yoh's wife."  
"You are a broken record I see." Strike two. She decided to change the subject.  
"Why are you out here anyways?"  
"Opacho couldn't sleep. So I brought her out here for some fresh air. She had a nightmare like you did."  
"I didn't have a nightmare." Anna said cooly, though she was clearly taken back. He knew her too well, but unlike Yoh, he did not stay quiet in his observations. Now it was her turn.  
"Later today, when you fight Manta's father, I wonder if you will really be able to do what you want to do." At this, Hao looked at her, amused.  
"Hmm. it is a nice day outside, Anna have you ever seen the sunrise? I like to see it ever so often, so I decided to stay up a little longer." He did not even try to subtly change the subject, but boldy stated it. Anna relaxed, and came forward, leaning on front of the wooden post to his left side. Since she was up already, she might as well make the use of it.

Outside was very beautiful, the sun peaked out between the trees, shedding light on their faces. Anna looked at Hao. At times like this he looked almost harmless. It seemed hard to believe that he had such diabolical desires. But, in the midst of it all, Anna saw what he could do. She knew that he had Reishi, the same way she had the ability. If Yoh didn't save her, would Anna have turned out like Hao did? Was fate really the only thing that decided the worth and value of a person's life? Anna knew that fate had a hand to play, but at the end of it all, it was the person who made the final decision. It was this realization that made her incredibly sad for Hao, imagining how he must have felt to make his decision.

"Was that nightmare really that distressing? I could comfort you, if you like." Hao suddenly said, taking advantage of the expression he saw on Anna's face. Strike three. Anna was enraged.

"I don't need your comfort!" Her hand shot out from her side as she aimed straight towards Hao's face. However, like last time, Hao would not let her get so far. Before she knew what was happening, Hao had grabbed both her arms, and she found herself pushed hard towards the post she was leaning on, Hao's body pressing her in. Only a few inches away from her face, Anna was locked into position. Hao had his legs over her right leg, and both arms pinned to her sides. His knee rested firmly between her legs.

"Get off of me." Anna tried to maintain her temper.   
"Anna **tsk tsk**, I never thought you would panic so much over a simple nightmare."  
"You know well it has nothing to do with a nightmare you bastard."  
"Doesn't it? In either case..." Hao leaned over past her shoulder, whispering into her ear. Anna could see nothing but black hair. "The same trick won't twice... be it a slap or kick. I however, still have a few tricks up my sleeve. You do know it wounded me deeply when you kicked me last time. If it was anyone else I don't think they would have survived the repercussions."  
"Feh." Anna laughed, trying to calm herself despite the intimacy of the situation. "You can't get everything you want Hao. And don't try to play innocent. You know that if Yoh didn't come that time, you would have killed us all." Hao pulled back and looked at Anna intently, smiling seductively.  
"Partially correct. I would have killed the others, but Anna always seem to have problems with listening closely, I would never harm you."  
"What exactly do you want Hao? You expect me to suddenly accept you and forget all you have done?"  
"Of course not Anna. That would be _ridiculous_. I just want you to face the facts, instead of being so stubborn. In due time Yoh _will_ be apart of me, and I will be Shaman King."  
"If you want to face any facts, know that you and I will never be together."  
"Ah, so you don't want to reprimand my statement about becoming Shaman King." Hao leaned in once more. "Anna, I never thought you would lower your standards like this, being with Yoh is more important than being queen?" Anna felt a sudden warmth surge throughout her body. Hao quietly planted soft kisses around her neck and shoulder blade, thrusting himself further on top of her. She forced herself remain calm and tranquil, despite the blood rising to her face.  
"Get off of me. There is no use of arguing with you Hao. Stop your games." Anna knew that this was like fighting fire with fire, and she decided to end it now and deal with it later. _Besides, at this moment, I am in a bad position. _  
"Hmm..." Hao looked at her curiously in the eye. "Why is that you and Yoh automatically assume all my actions are malicious. Not everything is a game Anna... I don't know why you think so." Hao let go of her hands and leaned back, with his legs remaining on either side of hers. "I never take advantage of a woman, I never had to."  
_  
What an arrogant son of a...  
_  
"What do you call the Hanagumi? The girls dedicated themselves to your selfish ambitions, and in return you wanted to use them to fuel your Reiryoku."  
"That of course, was none of my doing. They were my followers, who did what I said. But when they didn't achieve their mission I had to dispose of them somehow. I do not categorize you in the way." _Categorize?_  
"I follow and support Yoh as they supported you. In that, we are not so different, but Yoh does not control me and try to use me the way you do."  
"I would never _use _you Anna." Hao's face was innocently convincing.  
"Never use me? But, I suppose it is okay for you to use others. I am tired of your hypocrisy. I am just a normal person, I have fears like everyone has fears, I have weaknesses just as everyone has weaknesses. I am not WHAT you make me out to be! I am not your wife or lover. I am NOT your mother Hao!" There, she had finally said it. Anna knew the only way to get Hao away from these ridiculous notions was to deny all of his expectations of her.

This last statement did its trick. Anna saw something she had never dreamed of seeing. Hao suddenly smiled and pushed away his face in a perfect mask of anguish. She felt incredibly guilty. _He deserved it_ she tried to convince herself, but even then she could feel a piercing pain in her chest. Anna straightened up, wrapping the robe that had come loose around her body. Now, sitting once again in a dignified position, she shifted her attention to Hao once more. He was once again staring out into the garden, eyes fixed on some invisible thing she could not see. Anna looked out with him. Crickets could be heard quietly in the distance, while fireflies seemed to glide across the moonlit lawn.

"My mother..." Hao smiled suddenly, "... you do remind me of her. She was very strong-hearted and wasn't afraid of anyone. I think she was truely the only woman I have thought highly of..." Hao turned to Anna, "... except you of course."

Anna found herself annoyed again and no longer regretted her previous statement. He would never learn. An eerie silence surrounded them.

"What happened to her?" she asked suddenly, surprising even herself.  
"It is such a beautiful night. Are you going to stay to see the sunrise Anna?" Hao looked at her, completely ignoring her question and changing the subject once more. _PFFT Just like him..._  
"No." Anna's response brought upon another wave of pure silence.She stayed their for a minute, waiting to see if he would say anything, but hearing only the chirping of the cicadas, she pulled herself up planning to make herself some breakfast. After all, it was almost morning, and she thought it might be a good idea to make everyone have an early breakfast and have Yoh train a bit before he left with everyone. She was halfway to the screen door when she heard a murmur.

"My mother..." Hao whispered, eyes lost in deep thought. Anna glanced at him in curiosity.

"My mother was a very beautiful woman... she also looked a lot like you...light hair, emotional eyes..." Hao suddenly looked at Anna. "Though, when I think about it, I really doubt she was AS defiant as you... you really are hard to deal with."  
"..."_ He HAD to include that_ Anna thought to herself, quite flustered.

"She and I lived in a run down shack. Japan at that time was in chaos, I can recall it now, filth, disease, poverty... "

Anna sat back down, intrigued by Hao's recollection.

"…were just common things that people accepted" Hao paused for a moment, a questioned look in his eye, as if wondering why he suddenly started talking. He took in a deep breath, and positioned himself against the pole behind himself.  
"Whenever I complained about the old bread we ate, or the lack of mats to sleep on, Okaa-san would take me a little ways from our home to a place called 'death alley'." Hao shifted in his eyes and looked at Anna.   
"Have you ever looked into the face of death? Seen the eyes of people who have lost all hope? This is what the 'death alley' looked like. It was called such because every 'reject' in society resided there. People who had incurable diseases, those who couldn't face poverty, and even a few who lost all hope in life. It seemed to be just a valley of living and breathing empty husks. A smile was not to be seen a mile away. The place itself comprised of most of the population..." Hao averted his eyes back towards the garden, gleaming as if lost in a dream.   
"Okaa-San though, did not seem to mind any of the their problems or things. She would take whatever little we had and helped them. Our situation in actuality wasn't that bad at all. We had a home, and although our food was not what you would call a "proper meal", once in a while we could get good rice or meat to eat. She had extensive knowledge of plants and herbs, allowing her to constantly make and deliver medications that would sooth the pain of the sick living there. If she lacked the materials, her smile and stories themselves seemed to bring the children in that wretched place back to life."

"Hao…" Hao stared out, lost his own thoughts, not hearing Anna utter his name.   
"But perhaps the most important thing… The most cherished thing in my memory… was that Okaa-san was like me. She could see THEM." Anna's eyes widened momentarily.   
"Spirits engulfed us from every direction possible. The lost spirits especially. I was afraid of them, but Okaa-san always faced them bravely and helped them find their way. In this way she was very much like you Anna..."  
Hao looked at Anna in the eye once more.  
"I told you Hao, I am not what you expect me to be." Anna firmly stated, her eyes looking into Hao's. _This guy is can sometimes be utterly hopeless... But..._  
"Okaa-San's kindness or abilities, however, did not do anything." Hao continued, seemingly ignoring Anna's previous assertion.  
"In time, people became suspicious of her. They questioned why, even when she was so close to these poverish and disease-ridden people, did not contract any of their illnesses. In actuality, she had become immune to the diseases since she had them as a child, but people back then did not know such things, especially since most had died and not lived on to show such tendencies. I believe they would have probably overlooked it back then, if it wasn't for Okaa-San constantly standing up against the government. 'They are responsible for abandoning these people while taking their hard earned taxes to feed their greedy bellies' she used to tell me. Of course, back then, I didn't really care for such things, or comprehend their importance. In either case, she became a 'problem' that had to be taken care of. What better way to do this than to turn the very people she helped and love against her?"

Anna could not say anything, but found herself in awe of Hao's openness.  
"Soon enough rumors went around that she was deluding the people. They were convinced that she had actually found the cure to their sicknesses, thus explaining her own good health, and that she was not going to share it with them. These rumors then evolved into those stating that she was actually a witch, who was keeping sickness on the people, and only pretending to help them. Soon enough, the dissent grew large enough that my mother was forced to stop going to death alley to help the people. The government, then, took advantage of this, and sent out 10 to 15 soldiers to get "rid of the problem" once and for all. With the people no longer supporting her, they could literally do anything they wanted."

Silence. Anna could only make out the sound of her own breathing.

"The last time I saw her, she was tied to the post of my home after being ravished by the soldiers, only to be later set on fire. They burned her alive, calling her a 'demon' and 'witch.' My home burned down with it. I was a child at the time, and even being so, no one took me in. I lived off the streets and ate whatever I could find. To make matters worse, my abilities to sense spirits almost doubled. I could see and hear them from great distances and understand them. The spirits, however, were also effected by the humans in the area. They suffered deeply from their abuse of nature and the rancid atmosphere the humans around them had created. Daily I watched hundreds of them marching, mourning one dying spirit after another. It was at this time that I managed to gain the power of reading minds. It came from a spirit who was my friend, that let me integrate with him to defeat those men who had killed my mother." Hao sighed. "Even as a child, however, I saw the great power in this ability and decided to keep it, betraying my friend, convinced that it was worth it. I met Matamune later on, and he ended becoming the closest to me. I was very sad to see Yoh's oversoul when he used it to defend Golem, since him having it meant that Matamune had passed on, the power I had given him... depleted. I don't have any regrets though, Matamune did not fully understand me, neither do I expect anyone to understand."

Suddenly, Hao turned towards Anna, his eyes filled with rage.

"But from all the things I have seen in my past and present life, humans have been the root of all evil. They are made up of greed, and only know how to take and sustain themselves, with no regard whatsoever to anything around them. Even if you look at from Yoh's eyes, where he claims that people who see spirits must be good, that statement itself goes against his foolhardy goal of living at peace with them. If people who had even the slightest bit of good could see spirits, that means more than 90 percent of the human population has not an inch of goodness since most don't know even the existence of the other realm, let alone seeing those beings from it.  
Hao's eyes narrowed into a deadly stare.  
"Do you think, Hao, that you are not being greedy and wrong by killing those closest to you in order to establish this unrealistic and damaging goal?" Anna said softly but firmly.  
"Heh... I'm actually suprised you say that Anna, since even I know that you don't feel very comfortable with humans. After all, you had... no... HAVE the power of Reishi?" Hao brought out his seductive smile again.

Anna was taken back.

"I had known that you had the power of Reishi before. Why else would Yoh have Matamune's onii-killing ability? Any person with knowledge of the power could have seen it. Since I see none of his other ridiculous friends with strong furyoku, let alone Reishi, you had to be the only one. I also noticed that the ability had been lost to you, since I could read your thoughts the first time we met, which, by the way, was a memorable event, but back then your furyoku was hidden to me... I 'hit it on the nail' didn't I?" Hao's mocking eyes challenged her.  
Anna was getting annoyed of Hao and his observations, she hated being in this position.  
"However, when I met you the second time around, I could no longer read your mind, though I was able to catch maybe a few things. Your pathetic cry to Yoh..."  
"Why you..." Anna's cheeks were pink with her blush.  
"Since Opacho has Reishi as well..." Hao smiled at Anna's face. "... I know that two people with the ability have closed minds towards each other. So, since I couldn't read yours, you must have regained the ability. Furthermore, since I don't see any onii running around here, you must have gained control over it. But, I must wonder Anna... I gained control over Reishi once I made my resolve to get rid of the human race, thus averting my anger that previously fueled my onii into this new ambition. Opacho solved this problem in the same way. How did you manage to control it, with your ideals as they are now. Who are you really **Anna**?"

Anna gave Hao a killer look. She didn't understand why he constantly insisted to pry into her past and ideas. It made her even more angry since she had tried to keep the reappearance of her powers painstakingly away from Yoh.

"I must say though, Anna. Yoh must be really dumb not to notice all this. What excuse have you been using to justify the knowledge you recieve from the people around you? That 'The spirits told me'?"   
Anna looked at him with a look that could kill.  
"Heh! I thought so...I must say though, I keep losing respect for my brother because of his utter stupidity."  
"You have no right to call Yoh stupid, he probably knows already. One of the reasons I love Yoh is because he keeps quiet about the things I don't like to hear."  
"Hmm... in other words he is a coward." Hao said as a matter of fact.  
"Heh. I sense jealousy..." it was now her turn to target him, Anna looked at him innocently.  
"Of course." Hao simply stated. Anna once again found herself in an akward position, and one that she had actually prevoked herself.

Hao was on his feet in an instance and had surrounded her in an instance. Her body pushed into the wall by his own, elbows bent and pinned to her sides, Hao's face was only an inch away from her own.

"What happened to 'I never take advantage of a woman?'" Anna gritted her teeth.   
"Oh? That statement still stands, as I'm not doing anything _yet_... There are two things that annoy me Anna, and these two just happen to be closely related to each other. Do you know what they are?"  
"How am I supposed to know what goes on in that ridiculous mind of yours?" Anna retorted.  
"One: Yoh's stupid idea that he can actually defeat me, especially with his plan to do so by fighting through the Patch. Two: Your reluctance to acknowledge the fact that Yoh is apart of me in any way you look at it. So... as far as I'm concerned, being Yoh's fiancee makes you automatically mine." Hao's seductive eyes fueled Anna's anger.  
"What kind of stupid logic..."

Anna could not finish her sentence.

In moments, Hao pulled Anna close to his body, embracing her in a passionate kiss. Wrapping his arms around her arms and waist, Hao softly explored her mouth with his tongue. The sun's rays shot through his flowing hair, blanketing Anna's eyes in a mixture of blue and black.

Anna's rage was uncontrollable, but as hard as she tried, she was locked within his embrace. But even so, she could not deny that her own body was on fire, that a strong concupiscence throbbed in her heart and soul. Every second prolonged itself into months, and before Anna knew it, she realized, despite the mixture of anger, annoyance, and understanding, Hao was not someone she hated. The thought itself left her at a loss of words. He was like Yoh in more ways than she could name, but at the same time, he was 180 degrees different from him as well. He ate at her nerves, just as Yoh did, he brought out from her feelings of sympathy and anger, just as Yoh. Such a combination! At the pinnacle of her inner thoughts, Anna then deduced something. If she didn't hate Hao, what DID she think of him? _The opposite of hate... is love. _It was at this derivation that she suddenly came to terms with the situation around her. Hao and her were absorbed in an intimate embrace but it wasn't one sided at all...

She she was _actually_ kissing him back!

It was at this jolting realization, that Anna gathered every bit of force as fast as she could, and even Hao, the most powerful Shaman she knew of, could not prevent what happened next. In a split second, Hao flew sideways across the patio, breaking through the delicate screen door. Anna had kneed him hard in his stomach, so much so, that even her own kneecaps seemed to burn. His hair dishevelled and caught in the broken wood, Hao's face took on one of pure amazement. This slowly morphed itself, as Hao slowly turned his head towards her, closed his astonished eyes, and smiled. Anna eyes widened in shock as she looked at Hao in this position.

The smile he gave her was not one she had ever seen, or ever thought she would see on Hao. It wasn't the same masked smile that Hao gave his enemies before his S.O.F. devoured them. It wasn't the same smile that he used against those people he believed were beneath him. Nor was it the annoying seductive smile he gave Anna time and time again. This _smile_, this smile, was one Anna had seen so often that she had it engraved in very spirit, it was the smile that brought out an undeniable love in her, it was YOH's smile!

"Um... why are you guys making so much noise this early?"

Hao and Anna both surprised, turned to glance at a sleepy Horohoro. _Great, now they are all going to get up_. Anna instantly wrapped her robe tighter around her waist, while Hao sat up and began pulling his tangled hair out of the broken wood. Horohoro, however, was too sleepy to comprehend a thing, and only managed to pull his right hand out of his sleeping robes and grasp onto the door entrance for support. After this, he looked sleepily from Hao to Anna, Anna to Hao, and back.

"Are you guys sick? Both your faces are flushed. I was having this really nice...**yawn**...dream. I was a superhero, and I could fly. Then, suddenly, as I was flying through the sky to save Iron Maiden, I heard this huge crash! I turned my head to see if the building had fell, but next thing I knew, I was in my room. Chocolove had his foot in my mouth, so I pushed it to his side, and sat up. Then I realized the noise probably didn't come from my..."  
"Shut Up." Anna suddenly rebuked.  
"Geez, Fine. In either case, why is Hao in our door?" Horohoro could see clearer now, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  
"SO, you're even dreaming of Iron Maiden now?" Hao smiled wickedly.  
"Uh.. did I say Iron Maiden! No No! I didn't mean HER, it was like another..."  
"Sure..." Hao interrupted.  
"It was! I don't like OUR Iron Maiden at all...wh...WHY would I save her?" Horohoro screamed at Hao  
"It was a simple question, no need to get worked up." Hao now stood up and fixed the door frame into position, examining the broken areas.  
"I'M NOT GETTING..."

Suddenly, a large sound resounded. Horohoro found himself in the middle of the screen door next to Hao. A slap mark could be seen on his face, which he quickly covered with his left hand.

"I told you to shut up. You are giving me a headache." Anna looked down at the tearing Horohoro, now fully awake. "Heh..." Hao towered over Horohoro. "Since you'll be fixing that one, might as well fix this one as well." Hao said, pointing to the screen door that Anna had forced him into.  
"Wha..." Horohoro stuttered

"Horohoro!! What the..." Chocolove suddenly appeared, running beside him and helping him up.  
"Great, the idiot has once again caused problems, and woken the house along with it." Ren stated, standing directly behind Chocolove with his arms crossed. "I hope you'll fix those doors."  
"But I..." Horohoro tried to explain.  
"You fell through the door again like usual."  
"Hao! Hao did..."  
"Stop making excuses, now get up. I want to train a bit before we go."

"Um... what's all the excitement." Anna turned her head to see Yoh standing behind her. He had come through the back door. Anna looked at Yoh with surprise. "In either case... Anna, since we are up already, maybe we can just eat an early breakfast." Yoh continued, smiling at her.  
"Yah. Come on Yoh, while _Horohoro_ fixes the doors, we'll prepare some scrambled eggs." Anna smiled back.  
"Yay! Scrambled Eggs! Oh is that Opacho there? I'm surprised she hasn't awoken in all the excitement." Yoh looked down at the sleeping body.  
"She had a long night. So did I, right **Anna**?" Hao appeared in front of Yoh.  
"Just take her inside." Anna said in a monotonous way, disappearing around the corner with Yoh.

In the kitchen, as Yoh did the toast, Anna took her time beating the eggs, lost in thought. _What is with this whole situation? Hao seems to know everything, and welcomes it, he's too confident... I am not getting a good feeling about it. But, I must believe in Yoh... My dream...I think it wasn't a coincidence that Hao told me about his mother the same night the boy in my dreams began talking to him. _Anna dropped the beater in the eggs, bringing her hands under her head as she continued her train of thought. _The boy in the dreams... Hao... and Yoh..._

_"_If you beat those eggs anymore, I think they'll lose their texture." Anna suddenly turned to her left, only to find Hao leaning over her shoulder, looking at the eggs.  
"You know Anna..." Hao slowly began whispering in her ear. "As Shaman Queen, you would also be able to rule with me. I am not so heartless that I wouldn't grant some of my queen's desires. Especially those concerning certain people's lives."  
Anna looked at Hao in shock.  
"Here" Hao took the bowl from her "I'll cook these, I like scrambled eggs with some spices anyways. Yoh! Hand me some pepper, salt, ginger, garlic, and red pepper."  
"Uh sure..." Yoh answered, scurrying to the fridge for the ingredients. "Here."  
Anna watched Hao as he fried the ginger and garlic along with red pepper, then pouring melted butter and the scrambled eggs mixed with pepper and salt in the skillet.  
"I'll go set the table..." Anna said, going to the cabinet and removing some of the dishes, as Hao finished up with the scrambled eggs. As she set the table, a thousand thoughts went through her mind -- about Hao, about Yoh, and then the world in general.

"Ohh WOW!!" she heard Yoh exclaim from the kitchen "You should come over more often, these scrambled eggs are delicious!"

Anna smiled. She knew the step to defeating Hao wasn't as simple as Yoh thought. In the meantime, Anna would have to expand her plan quickly to include many more factors she had just realized. She was responsible for not only saving Yoh from Hao, but Hao from himself.  



End file.
